Over the years this column has described some of the destructive floods on the Grand River and its tributaries that caused considerable damage to properties adjoining on the banks of those streams. Some of the most severe floods occurred in the 1890s and the 1930s. The latter was a factor in pushing the construction of the long-proposed Shand Dam, which largely tamed the upper portion of the river after its completion in 1942.
Before that, spring floods could occur any year when a combination of factors coincided. Sometimes the floods were fairly localized, particularly when an ice jam broke. Other years the flooding was widespread. That often happened with a rapid melt of snow, or with a heavy rain on ground that was still frozen.
Typically, the floods came in early March. Some years they were later. Those later floods, at the end of March and early April, were particularly destructive. That was the case in 1912, when rains augmented a late thaw and break-up of the ice on the river.
The Grand began rising on April 6, a Friday, at a rate that astonished old-timers who had witnessed floods for decades. At Waldemar, in East Luther Township, the Canadian Pacific bridge was among the first victims. Water lapped over the rails by that night, and the next day the roadmaster determined the bridge was so weakened it could not support a train. Passenger trains from Orangeville stopped on the east side, and passengers walked across the bridge and boarded another train marooned on the west side to complete their journey to Arthur and points west. The railway embargoed freight service. Repairs had to wait until the waters returned to normal. Service was not restored for more than two weeks.
That was the beginning of the path of destruction. Two road bridges were washed away in East and West Garafraxa, including the one at Belwood. About 90 feet of the approach to that bridge washed away.
Three buildings at Belwood suffered damage. The hotel proprietor had to deal with five feet of water in the basement. The mill sustained serious flooding, and the furniture in a house close to the river floated around the first floor.
Canadian Pacific did not have a good weekend. The bridge carrying the Elora branch trackage over the Grand a short distance west of Belwood was out of service. The centre span came to rest almost 90 degrees out of alignment, and a pier disappeared completely. The railway suspended service to Fergus and Elora for two weeks until repairs could be made. In the meantime, the railway hired a man with a carriage to maintain the mail contract.
At Fergus, the ice swept downstream about 2pm on April 5. Temperatures rose rapidly the following day, as did the river level. By late afternoon the river presented a terrifying sight as it swept through town, but the water remained confined to the gorge. At the upstream side of town, the rising waters carried away the bridge at Glen Lamond, which floated though town intact. A few days later it was identified as the bridge that had come to rest on the upper dam at Galt, amazingly still in one piece. Portions of the CPR bridge at Belwood also ended up near Galt.
Water surrounded Monkland Mills, flooding some of the buildings. The surging river washed some $4,000 worth of oats out of one the outbuildings.
The St. David Street bridge was in danger for a time, as the flood waters eroded the land around the abutments. The water level dropped on April 7, before erosion made the bridge unsafe.
Damage at Elora was much less than in some previous floods. Aware of the dangers of the river, industrialist T. E.. Bissell had constructed berms to protect the upper side of his factory, and had taken various other measures to protect the property. Water flooded the yard around the plant, but did only minor damage.
Downstream, water filled the basements of the stores along Mill Street, but that happened most years. At the first sign of rising water, store keepers would move their stock upstairs. There was some damage to the flume powering the Mundell factory on the south side of the river, but that was a regular event as well.
If there was a good side to the flood that year, it was that it lasted only a few hours. But as with most floods, it became increasingly severe as the flood headed toward the mouth of the river, the flow augmented by the various tributary rivers and creeks, which themselves were all at flood level. Downstream from Elora, the river seemed like a half-mile-wide lake in Pilkington Township.
Galt suffered the worst, with the water rising on the evening of April 7. About 4:30 am on April 8 the rise became alarming. Water flooded into the back yards of buildings on Water Street, and then into the buildings themselves. The night constable became alarmed, and called the fire department to evacuate people in the immediate path of the flood. His quick action probably saved several lives. Firemen evacuated many residents by carrying them to safety while wading through waist-deep water.
The fire siren had alerted hundreds of people to the danger. Many people whose properties were safe stood on the bridges to watch the show. Others struggled to move furniture and personal possessions to higher ground. By late morning on April 8 some had pulled their boats out of storage, and were paddling up and down Water Street.
Merchants struggled to remove their stock to the upper floors of their buildings. Worst hit were the factories along the river, most of which sustained major losses. Water filled the basement floors of many factories completely. Thousands of books in the library basement were waterlogged, and the press of the Galt Reformer stood partially under water.
Long-time residents of Galt described this as the worst flood in the history of the city. Estimates of damage varied widely, but the total would add up to many millions in today’s money. As well, at least a dozen factories were out of production for varying lengths of time.
The 1912 flood gave renewed vigour to the advocates of flood control on the Grand. There had been isolated calls for a system of flood-control dams since the 1890s, but none resulted in any serious planning let alone construction. A few property owners, such as Bissell in Elora and several factory owners in Galt, did undertake some measures to protect their own properties, but that did not address the problem as a whole.
After the 1912 flood much of the initiative for flood control came from Galt’s council and its business leaders. With a couple of exceptions, those upstream, particularly in Fergus and Elora, feared the expense of flood control measures. Because both towns were partially protected by the gorge and the lower volumes of water, people there viewed the dangers to themselves as less pressing.
Overall, more floods during the next 20 years, and particularly in the 1920s, made public officials realize that it would be more prudent and much cheaper in the long run to tame the river. That began with the construction of the Shand Dam, and continued with the construction of additional dams in the 1950s and 1960s.