Belleville in Hastings County, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
Great Belleville Floods
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 30, 2024
1. Great Belleville Floods Marker
Until modern ice control measures were instituted, spring flooding of the Moira River was a regular occurrence. Contributing factors were deep snow, sudden thaws and heavy rains, ice jams and the frozen bay. The first flood on record was noted by surveyors in 1816. Author Susanna Moodie recorded her impressions of floods in 1844 and 1852 in Life in the Clearings. Major floods affected businesses and factories and destroyed bridges and homes. In March 1936, seventy-five city acres were flooded, in places up to seven feet deep. Losses of $250,000 were reported.
Erected 2017 by Hastings County Historical Society.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Disasters • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1936.
Location. 44° 9.86′ N, 77° 23.074′ W. Marker is in Belleville, Ontario, in Hastings County. It is on Front Street just south of Campbell Street, on the right when traveling south. The marker is mounted at eye-level on the southeast corner of the building at this location, facing Front Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 224 Front
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Regionally, this marker is in Eastern Ontario and specifically in Southeastern Ontario. It is also in Central Canada. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony, the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and Ruperts Land.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: James Bertram Collip 1892-1965 (about 120 meters away, measured in a direct line); Pinnacle Playhouse (about 150 meters away); Belleville City Hall / L'Hτtel de ville de Belleville (about 180 meters away); Site of the Historic Bogart-Carman Building / Site de l'edifice historique Bogart-Carman (about 210 meters away); Former Councillor Wolf Tausendfreund (about 210 meters away); Market Square (about 210 meters away); George Zegouras Market Square (about 240 meters away); Formation of the Methodist Church (Canada, Newfoundland, Bermuda) 1884 (approx. 0.2 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of
2. Marker detail: Flooded Streets
Also see . . .
1. Life in the Clearings versus the Bush, by Susanna Moodie (Project Gutenberg).
Excerpt: In March, 1844, a severe winter was terminated by a very sudden thaw, accompanied by high winds and deluges of rain. In a few days the snow was all gone, and every slope and hill was converted into a drain, down which the long-imprisoned waters rushed continuously to the river. The roads were almost impassable, and, on the 12th of the month, the river rose to an unusual height, and completely filled its rocky banks. The floods brought down from the interior a great jam of ice, which, accumulating in size and altitude at every bridge and dam it had carried away in its course towards the bay, was at length arrested in its progress at the lower bridge, where the ice, though sunk several feet below the rushing waters, still adhered firmly to the shore. Vast pieces of ice were piled up against the abutments of the bridge, which the mountain of ice threatened to annihilate, as well as to inundate the lower end of the town.(Submitted on December 6, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
2. Coleman Street, looking south to the CP Railway bridge in the distance, 3/1936 (Getty Images).
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 30, 2024
3. Great Belleville Floods Marker
The marker is mounted on the southeast corner of the building, facing Front Street.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 6, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 3, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 319 times since then and 36 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 6, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
