On page 12 of the Ridgeway Then & Now history book, there are three pictures of a flood by Big Creek in 1909. There isn’t any other information about the flood in the book, so I went to the library to do some more reading. There wasn’t a Ridgeway Journal on microfilm for that year, but I did find some information in the Bethany Democrat.
The rains began on Sunday, July 4 and continued through Monday night. They thought that Bethany had at least 11.5 inches of rainfall, and in Floris, IA, the total was 21 inches. All the creeks were well over their banks, not by inches, but by feet. It was the most flooding anyone had seen in the history of Harrison County and the damage was estimated to be close to a million. Farmers lost crops, livestock, and equipment as it was washed away. In Bethany, people had to be rescued from roof tops and homes and businesses were damaged, some beyond repair. The Bethany mill, electric light plant and the county farm were all flooded, and people were stranded in attics, barn roofs, trees, and even poles. (Bethany Democrat, July 8, 1909)
Ridgeway was likely spared much of the damage as it sits on higher ground, but the fields in the creek bottoms were under water and undoubtedly lost their crops. Ridgeway still felt the effects of the flood as a mile of railroad track was washed out north of Cainsville and bridges were out all over the county, stopping the mail and shipments for days. Train service was halted due to wash outs and water over the tracks. The water started going down on Tuesday afternoon and by Wednesday evening, the creeks were back in their banks.