Cincinnati, OH: 1912-1970 Crosley Baseball Field and 1937 Flood

Home Plate: (Satellite)

Marker: (Satellite, I could not get a street view of it, but there are photos below.)

This topic reminds me that sports is an important industry in the USA. I was going to add this photo to the notes for the bridge that we see in the upper-right corner. But I could not find it because I had assumed we were looking at a flooded Ohio River. It turns out, we are looking West across a flooded Mill Creek.

Timeless Baseball Pics posted

Crosley Field, Cincinnati, OH, January 1937 - During a two-week period right after the New Year, the Cincinnati area received a record 6-12 inches of rain forcing the Ohio River to crest and submerge Crosley Field in 21 feet of water. this storm event would become to be known as the Ohio River Flood of 1937, parts of Cincinnati remained underwater up to 19 days.

The water in the ballpark raised high enough to bury the outfield walls and allow Reds pitcher Lee Grissom to take a rowboat with groundskeeper Matty Schwab and row over the fences and into the ballpark (photo below).

The damage to the ballpark was minimal and secondary to the destruction the flood inflicted killing ten people and leaving over one hundred thousand people homeless and inflicted over $25 million in damage.

Kevin Harmon: That picture is of the flooded Mill Creek. The flooded Ohio River backed up the Mill Creek. Later a dam was built across the mouth of the Mill Creek. It's called the Barrier Dam and prevents the river from backing up the creek.

BallparksOfBaseball

This is another view of the bridge in the top photo. It appears that the bridge with the sharper curve has already been removed. The road bridge near the top across Mill Creek Valley is the Western Hills Viaduct.

Andy Hemmer, Mar 2024

Andy Hemmer, Mar 2024

BallparkMuseum, “LAST CROSLEY PITCH” BY Bill Purdom
The initial name of the ballpark was Redland because it was the home of the Cincinnati Reds. In 1933, it was renamed for the owner, Powel Crosley.

BallparksOfBaseball
"A revolutionary change in Major League Baseball occurred in 1935 at Crosley Field. Amidst the Great Depression of 1930s some teams struggled to attract fans to their ballparks. If fans were able to find a job during this time period it meant they would be unable to attend a game since all games were during the day. The solution: Installation of lights. Night baseball was not new as lights had been installed at Minor League ballparks beginning in 1930. Baseball granted the Reds permission to install lights, costing $50,000. On May 24, 1935 Crosley Field became the first professional baseball stadium with lights when President Franklin Roosevelt flipped the switch from Washington, DC. The Reds played eight home, night games against each National League team and saw their attendance increase by 100 percent."

This is the marker.

Richard Balian, May 2024

Matt Simmons, Jan 2021

Matt Simmons, Jan 2021

I wonder how many more exhibits are along the walking tour.

Ted Pennington, Aug 2023

I included Union Station to help orient this location with today's satellite maps. I was surprised that I could not find the ballpark when I looked along the Ohio River because I figured its shape would make it obvious. If one looks in the correct location, the shape is obvious. In fact, it is explicitly labelled.

1955/57 Covington Quad @ 24,000

May 3, 1949 @ 14,000; AR1IP0000170149