The town Franklinton experienced extreme flooding when the wooden levees , holding the Scioto River , collapsed on March 25 , 1913 . The Great Flood of 1913 engulfed the neighborhood of Franklinton with 7 to 17 feet of water . Police officers in horse-drawn carriages traveled the flooded streets , warning residents to head to the higher ground of the adjacent Hilltop neighborhood . While recording the devastation of the flooding , Robert F. Wolfe , publisher of '' The Columbus Evening Dispatch '' , chartered an interurban train from Columbus to Buckeye Lake and took nine motorboats and 20 rowboats with him to the rivers edge . From Rich & Scioto Street he was able to help residents who could not get to higher ground . The rising of the waters swept ninety-three people to their deaths and left 20,000 people homeless . It also destroyed nearly 500 buildings and every bridge in the downtown area . A large number of residents relocated to the Hilltop . As a result , property values dropped as much as 50 % . Early estimates of the flood damage to homes and businesses came in at five million dollars with the eventual total climbing to $ 22 million . The damages from the Great Flood of 1913 led to some the first watershed planning and flood-control measures
Great Flood of 1913
Great Flood of 1913
Franklinton, Columbus, Ohio