Easter Flood

We recently received a request for images of the 1979 flood in Mississippi, known as the Easter flood. The Pearl River crested on April 17, 1979 after days of heavy rain, and soon flooded into Jackson and surrounding creeks. Several homes, schools, businesses, and other pieces of property were heavily damaged in the process. "It was the worst Pearl River flood in recorded history, topping the old flood record, set in 1902, by more than 5 feet" (6).

We thought we'd share this image we found in the book The Great Flood by the Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News.  This picture caught our attention because of the large pile of library books damaged as a result of the flood hitting the library of Jackson Preparatory School!

"About half of the 12,000 ruined books in the library of Jackson Preparatory School on Lakeland Drive were destroyed by the flood. The books were piled in the middle of a classroom" (107).

For more pictures on the Easter flood, check out the aerial views on The Clarion-Ledger's website.
Check out this pin, and other pins on our "Mississippi History" board!

Hederman, T.M., Jr., ed. The Great Flood. Jackson: Clarion-Ledger/Jackson Daily News, 1979. Print
Mississippi History Timeline: http://mdah.state.ms.us/timeline/zone/1979/