Ohio River Flood Wall Murals

Explore in more detail some of the history depicted in robert dafford s epic portsmouth floodwall murals.

Ohio river flood wall murals.

Robert dafford murals appear on floodwalls in seven ohio river cities in four states listed below in each state from east to west another five cities have smaller floodwall. With the help of the popular artist robert dafford a 2000 foot concrete block flood wall that is located along portsmouth s ohio river has been turned to be an outdoor art gallery that clearly shows portsmouth history and other areas surrounding it. It has a guided tour if you would like to know more about the history of the area. The portsmouth ohio flood wall murals project is one of the largest in the world stretching 20 feet high and 2 000 feet long between front street and the ohio river.

The murals are painted on the town side of the flood walls erected after the 1937 flood that devastated the area. The wall is pretty easy to get to. Explore the history depicted in portsmouth s famous floodwall murals. Paducah was originally started by william clark of lewis and clark fame.

The wall actually goes for about ten miles on the riverfront. All you have to do is get to the ohio river. This tour covers some 2 000 years of history at the confluence of the scioto and ohio rivers from the ancient adena and hopewell to the workers at williams shoe factory in downtown portsmouth. There is an audio tour you can download onto your phone or you can read the signs that are posted along the way.

A flood wall is usually just nothing special to look at. Over 1 3 of a mile long and 200 tall this storytelling mural gives insight into not just portsmouth but to ohio and our nation s history. Instead of having just a plain wall the city decided to have artists paint murals on it. The wall spans more than 2 000 feet.