CONTINENTAL OIL COMPANY, JUNE 1935 FLOOD. Rain poured over Eastern Kansas for nearly a week by the time the Marais des Cygnes River first reached flood stage on May 28. The river crested at 32 feet at 11 p.m. on Sunday, June 2, and remained above flood stage until June 6. More than 44 blocks of the City of Ottawa, plus Forest Park, part of the AT&SF railyards, and hundreds of acres of farmland were submerged in water. Hawthorne and Eugene Field schools became shelters for more than 100 families escaping the flood, and the Red Cross, with labor provided by the Franklin County Poor Farm, fed more than 175 people each day. The Missouri Pacific Railroad, US 59, and US 50 were closed, and supplies were boated across the river. Roughly five years old at the time of the 1935 flood, the Continental Oil Company (Conoco) station operated by Billy Woodburn and Ted Foster found itself in the middle of the flood. Located at 404 North Main Street, this service station changed hands almost as frequently as it flooded. The service station’s many names include Oaks Oil Co. (1930), Fowler’s Conoco Service Station (1938), Pinet Service Station (1946), Jack’s Conoco Service Station (1950), Howard’s Conoco (1957), Del & Butch’s Conoco Service (1961), McBath Conoco (1962), and finally Scotty’s Service Station (1964) before it was torn down in the late 1960s. Today's photo shows the Continental Service Station during the 1935 flood. McCandless Fur, Hide & Wool Company, located in the 200 block of North Main, stands in the background. #HistoricFloods #OttawaKS #Petroliana #HistoricGasStations (fb)

MARSH HOUSE, MAY 30-JUNE 1 FLOOD, 1904: Robert Atkinson built what was then called the Sheldon House in 1877 on Tecumseh Street across from the railroad depot. As a comparatively expensive $2/day hotel, the Sheldon House was not profitable until it was purchased by Joseph Marsh in 1890. During the next several years, Marsh added a third story, numerous guest rooms, a baggage room, a ladies’ waiting room, washroom, additional dining room, new porch, sample rooms, office, electric lighting, bathrooms, fire escapes, and bridal chambers. By 1906, the hotel included 80 guest rooms and dining capacity for 100 guests. Unfortunately, the Marsh House’s proximity to the Marais des Cygnes River meant that the hotel suffered regular flooding. In 1904, reports indicate that the river crested between 35’8” and 36’, and first floor of the Marsh House was filled with five feet of standing water. Joseph Marsh died in 1911, leaving his wife, Sarah, to run the hotel with their son John. Sarah died in 1923. Her son sold the hotel to J.V. Mitchell in 1924. The building entered its final lease as a hotel before it was torn down. Today’s image is of W.H. “Dad” Martin’s May 30, 1904, photo of the Marsh House during the big flood. #OttawaKS #HistoricFloods #kswx Kansas Mesonet US National Weather Service Topeka Kansas (fb)