Remembering The Great St. Patrick's Day Flood Of 1936

90.5 WESA | By Essential Pittsburgh

Published March 17, 2016 at 1:19 PM EDT

1 of 6

Fifth Avenue and Market Street (Market Square), March 18, 1936.

Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs, Detre Library & Archives at the History Center.

2 of 6

Amoco Station, street unknown, March 1936.

Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs, Detre Library & Archives at the History Center.

3 of 6

Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor owner Jacob Hanchar points to the mark they've placed to show the water level during the 1936 flood.

Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA

4 of 6

Flood were not unusal for residents and businesses in the floodplain, but because of warmer-than-usual temperatures, the 1936 flood was one of the worst.

Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA

5 of 6

According to parish historian Derris Jeffcoat, water was up to the gold bands in St. Stanislaus during the 1936 flood.

Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA

6 of 6

Nuns living in the St. Stanislaus convent had to move everything from the first to second floors during the flood.

Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA

At the beginning of the 20th century, flooding was not uncommon for Pittsburgh. Businesses and residents were used to dealing with spring flooding and no official action had been taken to combat rising water levels from the city’s three rivers. On St. Patrick’s Day, 1936, however, usually warm temperatures resulted in a rapid thaw of the winter ice and the city was engulfed in 46 feet of water. We’ll talk with Heinz History Center museum project manager Lauren Uhl joins Essential Pittsburgh to discuss the flood and how it impacted the Steel City. We’ll also hear from St. Stanislaus parish historian Derris Jeffcoat about how nuns living there survived the flood and Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor owner Jacob Hanchar about how the Klavon family escaped the rising waters.

More Essential Pittsburgh segments can be heard here.