The Passaic Flood of 1903

Passaic Flood of 1903, by
Marshall Ora Leighton

Project Gutenberg's The Passaic Flood of 1903, by Marshall Ora
Leighton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Passaic Flood of 1903
Author: Marshall Ora Leighton
Release Date: November 20, 2006 [EBook #19878]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
PASSAIC FLOOD OF 1903 ***

Produced by Chuck Greif, Mark C. Orton, Linda McKeown and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 92 Series M, General
Hydrographic Investigations, 8
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR
THE PASSAIC FLOOD OF 1903
BY
MARSHALL ORA LEIGHTON
[Illustration]
WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1904

CONTENTS.
Page. Letter of transmittal 7
Introduction 9
Precipitation 11
Descent of flood 14 Highland tributaries and Central Basin 14 Flood at
Macopin dam 15 Flood at Beattie's dam, Little Falls 16 Flood flow over
Dundee dam 17
Damages 23 General statements 23 Highland tributaries 23 Ramapo
River 23 Pequanac and Wanaque rivers 24 Central Basin 25 Lower
Valley 25 Paterson 26 Passaic and vicinity 27
Preventive measures 28 General discussion 28 Lower valley
improvements 29 Flood catchment 31 Pompton reservoir 31 Ramapo
system 33 Wanaque system 34 Midvale reservoir 34 Ringwood
reservoir 35 West Brook reservoir 35 Pequanac system 35
Newfoundland reservoir 36 Stickle Pond reservoir 36 Rockaway
system 37 Powerville reservoir 37 Longwood Valley reservoir 37
Splitrock Pond 38 Upper Passaic Basin 38 Millington reservoir 38
Saddle River 39 Summary of flood-catchments projects 40 Preferable
reservoir sites 40

General conclusions 44
Index 47

ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page. PLATE I. A, Beattie's dam, Little Falls, N. J., in flood; B,
Flood-water lines in residence district, Paterson, N. J. 16
II. A, Pompton Lakes dam and water front of Ludlum Steel and Iron
Company; B, Dry bed of Pompton Lake 24
III. Flood district of Paterson, N. J. 24
IV. A, Washout at Spruce street, Paterson, N. J.; B, River street,
Paterson, N. J., after flood 26
V. A, Effects of flood in mill district, Paterson, N. J.; B, The wreck of a
hotel in Paterson, N. J. 26
VI. A, Devastation in Hebrew quarter, Paterson, N. J.; B, A common
example of flood damage 28
VII. A, Inundated lands at Passaic, N. J.; B, Undamaged bridge across
Passaic River after partial subsidence of flood 28
FIG. 1. Comparative flood run-off at Dundee dam, March, 1902, and
October, 1903 18
2. Diagram of flood flow at Dundee dam, flood of 1903 20

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, UNITED STATES
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, HYDROGRAPHIC BRANCH,

Washington, D. C., December 4, 1903.
SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled,
"Passaic Flood of 1903," prepared by Marshall Ora Leighton, and to
request that it be published as one of the series of Water-Supply and
Irrigation Papers.
This paper is a continuation of Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No.
88, by George B. Hollister and Mr. Leighton, and describes the flood of
October, 1903, which was higher and far more disastrous than the flood
of 1902. The occurrence of two great floods in the same basin during so
short a period makes the subject worthy of attention, especially as the
district is, from a manufacturing and commercial standpoint, one of the
most important along the Atlantic coast.
Very respectfully,
F. H. NEWELL, Chief Engineer.
HON. CHARLES D. WALCOTT Director United States Geological
Survey.

THE PASSAIC FLOOD OF 1903.
By MARSHALL O. LEIGHTON.
INTRODUCTION.
In the following pages is given a brief history of the disastrous flood
which occurred in the Passaic River Basin in October, 1903. In the
report by George Buell Hollister and the writer, entitled "The Passaic
Flood of 1902," and published by the United States Geological Survey
as Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 88, are discussed the
principal physiographic features of the drainage basin and their general
relations to the stream flow. This report will not repeat this information,
and the discussion will be confined to the flood itself. References to
local features will be made without explanation, the presumption being

that this publication shall accompany the earlier one and be, as it is, a
continuation of it. In the present report more attention is given to an
estimate of damages than in the earlier work, and remedies by which
devastation may be avoided are briefly considered.
Passaic River overflowed its banks on October 8, 1903, and remained
in flood until October 19. Between these dates there occurred the
greatest and most destructive flood ever known along this stream.
Ordinarily the