Monument Creek Flood of 1935 remembered

The city’s new May record for rain caused smaller flash floods this year, but the previous record May contributed to a big flood 80 years ago.

The Memorial Day Flood of May 30, 1935, is widely considered the worst in Colorado Springs history.

Much of the rain that caused the flood fell during the last week of that month, said Tim Blevins, who is in charge of special collections for the Pikes Peak Library District.

On Saturday, Blevins reflected on the flood while displaying archive photos and microfilm headlines from the city’s two newspapers at the time — the Gazette and the Evening Telegraph.

Eighteen people died in the flood and all but one bridge across the creek were destroyed. The high water caused extensive damage downtown and in Monument Valley Park.

“It was something that the city wasn’t ready for,” Blevins said. “It’s something we don’t ever want to see again.”