Taylor Historical Society
Museum

The Flood of 1935

In early July of 1935, Central New York had been suffering from a mild drought that had farmers praying for rain. They were rewarded by the bucketfuls. While much of the damage was felt south of Taylor, the water was building up and heading from Taylor to Cincinnatus, Willet and onward. But our Towns did not get by scot-free. Herein we have collected information from our archives, those of the Cincinnatus Area Heritage Society as well as the Cortland County Historical Society. Clicking on the smaller pictures will produce a full size photo. 

	The overview of the situation just prior to the flood and the beginning of the event.		A general description of the situation in Cincinnatus as a whole		A specific description of the  "adventures" of the Newkirk family on the night of July 7, 1935.
	The Newkirk family saga continues		Harold Fritz and his observations of that terrible July night		Personal glimpses of the Brown Family throughout the night

And over toward McGraw and Cortland the newspapers were covering the tragedy

Lee Kibbe of Taylor was well known in the area for the work he did, his attention to detail and the fact that he had kept a daily journal for years.

Here we have his entry for the 8th of July 1935

(Notice how he covers 6 years of journal in one diary)

Showing how local the flood was, his entry for the 7th concerning the weather stated "Heavy thundershowers in the PM evening 94 degrees.

On the 9th, he talks of taking his girls to the Doctor in DeRuyter and "light rain all day. 76 degrees"