Sunday, July 10, 2011

Red Clay Flooding at the old Ametek site in 1938

I have had these photos for a while and can not remember who passed them along to me. The first picture appears it was taken from Greenbank Road looking across the Red Clay towards the south end of the bridge in Marshallton. The second is on the old Ametek mill property. That is the concrete bridge crossing the falls at the end of original millrace. You can see in the third photo ( a recent one) how high the water came up. It is obvious the water went over the bridge and Greenbank Road was covered. I can not imagine what downstream was like. You can not tell where the creek is. Documented on the back of one of the older photos is a date of 1938.
Now that this old site (c1765) sits vacant it should be looked at and acquired, from the current owner, by the Federal, State and the County Governments to be used for flood mitigation and recreational purposes like what is being done in Yorklyn and what was done in Glenville.


3 comments:

Scott P said...

The picture that I find the most interesting is the first one. I agree with you, it is looking downstream and across towards Old Capitol Trail. May have been taken from the front of one of the houses on Greenbank, either the one formerly the store or a neighbor. Wow, the water looks high! You can barely see the top of the old metal truss bridge.

What I like the best is the building behind it, with the Coca-Cola sign. In talking with Ann Hedrick last year, she mentioned that there was an ice cream parlor where the empty lot is now on the other side of the bridge. It was called Mackison's (sp?). She remembered her brother dancing to the juke box there. That has to be it. I'd never seen a picture of it before.

LRCV said...

That is the first time I have heard of the ice cream parlor. That posting these photos alot of fun. People see them and can add background information.
It looks like a name atop the Coca Cola sign. I wonder if it is the one you refered to.

Kelley said...

I've never seen OLD pictures of the corner flooded! So much for being in the 100 year flood plane!