South Platte River and Cherry Creek Flood Photographs

Collection

Identifier: C Photo Collection 492

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Photographs and color slides of the flood and aftermath. Includes a CD with digital images of the slides

Dates

1965

Creator

Ball, Ken (Person)

Language of Materials

Material is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Copyright

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

Biographical / Historical

In early summer 1965, heavy, intense rain on three different days caused outstanding floods on many streams in the South Platte River basin from Plum Creek, just south of Denver, downstream to the Colorado-Nebraska State line. The flood-producing storms brought rainfall of as much as 14 inches in a few hours. The storms occurred over the Greeley Sterling area on June 14-15, over the Plum Creek and Cherry Creek basins on June 16, and over the headwaters of Kiowa and Bijou Creeks on June 17. The flood crest did not pass Julesburg, in the northeast corner of Colorado, until June 20. Six persons were drowned, and two other deaths were attributed to the storms. The total damage amounted to $508.2 million dollars. About 75 percent of this monetary damage occurred in the Denver metropolitan area.