December 1878 floods

Editor's note: The following text is from an article printed in the newspapers listed below on December 12, 1878. Thank you to Contributing Scholar Carl Mayer for finding, cataloging and transcribing the articles. The language, spelling and grammar of the articles reflects the time period when they were written.

Image of a later flood, 1936, Route 213 at Eddyville underwater. Hudson River Maritime Museum collection

1878-12-12 Sun (NY) - GREAT DAMAGE BY FLOODS.
Railroad Bridges Swept Away, Passenger Trains Wrecked, Mill Property Destroyed, and Villages Inundated—The Highest Flood Known for Many Years in the Delaware.

Kingston, N. Y., Dec. 11.--The rainstorms of Monday and Tuesday [Dec. 9 and 10, 1878] have terribly affected Ulster County. The heavy mountain snow melted, and the result has been a freshet that has worked frightful damage. Bridges have been swept away on the Wallkill Valley and on the Ulster and Delaware Railroads. The roadbed of the latter is damaged to an extent that cannot be remedied for several days. At 3 o'clock this morning the canal barges on the Rondout broke adrift and went crushing one against the other downstream. Several of them, loaded with coal, were sunk. Nearly all of them had crew aboard, and some of them had entire families. Whether loss of life resulted is yet uncertain. The loss of property along the Rondout Creek will approximate $75,000, $10,000 of which is the value of cement barrelled [sic] and ready for delivery to New York markets. At Saugerties, on the Esopus Creek, the loss is not less than $50,000. Six boats of the steamer MARINA were carried away, and the MARINA left high on the flats. The bulkhead of the dam on the creek was carried away, and much coal, lumber, and wood were lost. From the back country come reports of loss of life. Several wrecked residences have passed down the Esopus. The white lead factory at Glen Erie [sic, Glenerie?] suffered to the extent of $10,000. The loss at Wilbur exceeds $3,000. The mouth of the Rondout was crowded this morning by a confused mass of boats and vessels of every kind, the majority of which were total wrecks.

A rumor was rife this morning that there had been great loss of life at Eddyville, a small village on Rondout Creek, in this county. THE SUN's representative visited that place to investigate. The route was difficult. The wagon wheels were hub deep in mud and water for half the distance. Within three feet of the roadway the current seethed and rushed with a terrible velocity. The creek was fairly crowded with household goods and wrecked buildings from up the stream. Within half a mile of the village the road was washed away. The bridge across the turbulent waters was standing, but the approach to it was cut off by a gulch fifty feet deep. There was but one way to reach Eddyville, and that was by crossing the rushing creek through the débris. It was with difficulty that a boatman was procured willing to risk such  a venture. The streets of Eddyville were still flooded. Not less than twenty houses have been swept away. The guard lock burst last night, and the village has since been at the mercy of the flood. The foundations of every building in the place have been weakened and there is scarcely an outbuilding remaining. The canal stables were flooded, and toward of 100 horses and mules were drowned. One large tenement house was washed from its foundations and carried some distance to the main road, where it is wrecked. The entire place is flooded below the hill. The stables, outhouses, &c. on the “fly" were carried down the creek with the current. The débris is strewn all the way from the lighthouse to Eddyville. The house of Hiram Davis was floated to the upper end of the Island pier, and there lodged, when the furniture drifted away. The barn belonging to Mr. Black was floated to the south dike, with a horse in it. The horse was saved. Stables with pigs, cows, and geese in them went down the creek and were lost. The stores are flooded and the goods damaged. The lumber for Lambert's new ice house was carried away. The steamers MARTIN and EAGLE, of the Newburgh and Albany line, could not enter the creek. After the guard lock broke[,] a boat went over the dam, loaded with upward of 1,000 barrels of cement. The boat parted in the middle, and her cargo went to the bottom. The crew were saved, though one young man is severely bruised. The report of lives lost was unfounded. One boat, however, went down the stream in which was the family of a canal boatman. They are missing. It is possible that they escaped drowning.

Rondout, Dec. 11.—The schooners KATE and MARY and the sloops JAMES GRANT, BEN AIKIN and CHARLES LYNCH, McCausland’s sectional docks. the barges C. R. WORDENDYKE, ScCHUYLER HONESDALE, MARVIN KING, and a large number of canal boats, laden and light, are either piled on the north and south dykes or sunk. The steamers W. B. CRANE, PITTSTON, and A. B. VALENTINE are damaged. The JAMES W. BALDWIN and WILLIAM COOK are uninjured, but cannot leave, owing to the freshet. The extent of the damage is not yet known and cannot be estimated. All the wharves are submerged and everything not secured has floated off.
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Newburgh, Dec. 11.—Some small buildings have been swept away. The tide last night was the highest ever known, the river covering nearly every wharf in this city. The buildings in the lower streets were filled with water, and several serious washouts occurred on the short cut branches of the Erie Railroad. No trains have passed over it since noon yesterday, the trains to and from New York going by way of Newburgh branch. At Cornwall, yesterday, many houses near the river were flooded, and the people rowed over the wharves in boats. One or two small barns were carried away at Highland Falls. Sixty cords of wood floated off the wharf at Fort Montgomery. At Fishkill Landing the Duchess Hat Works were partially inundated. Brundage & Place's storehouse was flooded by the high tide, 300 barrels of lime slaked, and the building narrowly escaped destruction by fire. Loss, $500.
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ALBANY, Dec, 11.—Many cellars and basements on the river front are full of water, and much damage has been done. Among other sufferers are Mr. McCabe, who loses $1,000 worth of lime; Robert Geer, who loses $800 worth of tobacco; Mr. Rork, who had a large amount of lumber swept away; and Messrs. Durant & Elmore, who lose a car load of flour.

Steamboat A.B. Valentine. Donald C. Ringwald Collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum

1878-12-12 Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY) TORRENTS' TERRORS
Rondout, Dee. 11.—The freshet is the most damaging one in Rondout and Esopus creeks ever known. The schooners KATE, MARY and CANAL, with the sloops JAMES GRANT, BEN AKIN and CHARLES LYNCH, McCausland's sectional docks, the barges C. R. WORDENDIKES, SCHUYLER, HONESDALE, MARVIN, KING OF THE NORTH, and a large number of canal boats laden and light are either piled on the north or south side or sunk. The steamers W. B CRANE, PITTSTON, and A. B. VALENTINE are damaged. Some lives are supposed to be lost on the sunken boats. Tugs cannot assist the vessels on the dikes by reason of the strong current. Six boats and the steamer MARINA were carried away. The MARINA is high on the flats. The bulkhead of the dam on the creek was carried away. Much coal, lumber and wood have been lost. There are fears that there is loss of life on the boats carried out of Saugerties creek. The entire damage in Kingston, Wilbur, Eddyville, Rondout is roughly is estimated at half a million.

​At Eddyville, the water damaged the guard lock on the Delaware and Hudson canal. The water ran over and through it and has flooded what is known as the fly on which there were buildings, five of which are destroyed and many others damaged. One large tenement was washed from the foundations and carried a long distance to the main road, where it is wrecked. The entire place is flooded below the hill. The stables, outhouses, etc., on the fly were carried down the creek with the current. The debris was strewn all the way from the lighthouse to Eddyville. The house of Hiram Davis was floated to the upper end of the island dock and lodged, when the furniture drifted away. The barn of Mr. Black floated to the South Dike with a horse therein. The horse was saved. The stables with pigs, cows and geese therein went down the creek and were lost.  Stores were flooded and goods damaged. The lumber for Lambert’s new ice house was carried away. The steamers MARTIN and EAGLE of the Newburgh and Albany line could not enter the creek. The canal at Eddyville was much damaged.

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