1944 Flood
Riverview Amusement Park....
The Background
Although the Riverview Lagoon was spring fed, when the Des Moines river outside the levee would rise to a certain level, the river pressure would force water to seep under the levee and start raising the water level in the park. The first sign of "sand boils" churning in the lagoon would signal us to immediately start the pumps. Of course there were water level gauges in the park that would indicate also that it was time to pump even if no sand boils were forming.
To the right is a digitally enhanced portion of the Register newspaper account reporting one of the times the Des Moines river became the winner...
Below are some Register and Tribune news copy photos that accompanied the article
Research by Bradley Good
The 1944 Flood-continued
