Gallatin County Historical Society to dedicate Tent City stone and plaque June 12

GALLATIN COUNTY - The Gallatin County Historical Society will dedicate both a stone monument and an informational plaque remembering the tent city set up to house victims of the Flood of 1937 at a ceremony on June 12.

The ceremony, which begins at 9 a.m. at the John Marshall Home Bank Museum, on South Main Street in Old Shawneetown, will feature comments by several noteworthy speakers.

Monsignor Joseph Lawler will give the invocation, and President Laura Bentley-Henson will introduce guests, who include state Sen. Dale Fowler, Gallatin County mayors David Barker, William Barton, Dana Pinkston, Nancy Mosby Kitchens and Mayor Pro Tempore Mark York.

Gallatin County Historical Society Historian Christy Short will present the dedication and unveiling of the memorial plaque, followed by remarks from Fowler.

Lawler will then give closing comments and the benediction.

The tent city memorialized was located 1.5 miles east of Junction on a 15-acre strip of the Finney Austin farm. A tent colony spearheaded by the American Red Cross was set up to house those who had lost their homes in the 1937 Ohio River flood. At least 85 very large tents to provide emergency housing were shipped from Marion to create the tent city. Flood victims from Junction, Shawneetown and rural Gallatin County residents all received shelter at the site.