Like many cities located along the Ohio River, Paducah has experienced serious flooding. The worst recorded flood occurred in January of 1937 when the Ohio River crested at just under 61 feet and flooded the city for over 3 weeks. Over 90 percent of the city was flooded.
The 1937 flood affected towns and cities along the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, PA to Cairo, Illinois. The event became known as the Ohio River Valley Flood of 1937 and, at that time, was the greatest natural disaster in the history of the U.S. The flood drove over a million people in the Ohio River Valley from their homes.
To protect the town of Paducah, the US Army corp of Engineers built a flood wall along the waterfront that is three feet higher than the 1937 flood level. Construction began in 1939 and took 10 years to complete. The 12 mile long flood wall is constructed of 9 miles of earthen barrier and 3 miles of concrete, which includes a 14 foot-high flood wall.
As you can see, concrete flood walls are not very attractive. They run all along the waterfront area of the city. See the blue dotted line in the map below.
In the spring of 1996 the city hired Robert Dafford, who was know to some residents because of his Giant Clarinet mural in New Orleans, to paint murals on the flood wall. Dafford and his mural team, which included Herb Roe, Benny Graeff, Douglas Dafford, Miriam Dafford, Mike Doherty, Justin Montovan, John Norris, Chris Condon, Robert Baxter, Sandy Lewis, Jeff Moss, Jason Brake, Brett Chigoy, Chase Innis and Miguel Lasala, worked for five years on the first set of 20 panels focusing on the history of Paducah. Ten additional panels, focused on railroad history, were completed in 2021.
Overview of the mural wall. 
Union Labor built Paducah and the flood wall. 
The only uranium diffusion plant in the US is located here. 
Access to the water is maintained. Doorways and openings are sealed if a flood is forecast. 
Christening of the towboat Eleanor. 
The Ohio River froze solid in 1938. 
In the 1800’s mussels were harvested in the Ohio. Buttons were made with the shells. 
“Aerial” view of Paducah in 1873. 
River craft repair was the city’s first heavy industry.. 
Politically incorrect or sane. You decide.
The murals are impressive both in their size and execution. Unlike some urban murals that are painted on the side of buildings and may not be easy to approach, these murals are at ground level and are easily viewed. Each of the “Floodwall Murals” has a marker that provides a description of the historical event depicted by the mural. The murals are in excellent condition as they are still maintained by the Dafford mural team.
After touring the town, we were excited to dine at the Freight House which is located in an historic produce depot a block from the waterfront. Plenty of RV parking! The owner-proprietor is Chef Sara Bradley, a 2025 James Beard Award nominee and semi-finalist for Best Chef Southeast, a Chopped Champion and first-ever Chopped Legend, a two-time runner-up on Bravo’s Top Chef, and a runner-up on the Food Network’s Tournament of Champions. Chef Sara is a Paducah native and we were delighted to dine in this gem of a restaurant by such an award-winning chef.
We shared everything, starting with the Stuffed Mushrooms appetizer, followed by the Winter Greens Salad with glazed pears, blue cheese, pecan crumble, and maple sherry vinaigrette. For our entree, we tried the Braised Pork Shoulder with field peas, sweet greens, fennel aioli, and cornbread. We completed our meal with a cup of decaf coffee (Joe) and decaf cappuccino (Sue). We had a delicious repast and a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Next time, we will be sure to try the Chef’s bourbon flights!
We were impressed by our first visit to Paducah and will definitely return.
The town is easy to navigate in a Class B or small Class C. The free, surface parking lot on N. Water street and Broadway is close to the both the National Quilt Museum and the Floodwall Murals and lots of shops and restaurants. We stayed at the Duck Creek RV Park which is a ten minute ride from Paducah.
As we finalize this post, the forecast today is for a low of 4 and a high of 17 degrees Fahrenheit. However, we received some great news today that warmed our souls, brought big smiles, and heightened our anticipation for the travel season. We were selected in a lottery to attend the Pleasure-Way 40th Anniversary Rally this summer in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada!
For those of you who are new to our blog, Pleasure-Way is the manufacturer of the two RVs we owned. We will be heading to Saskatchewan in June which fits perfectly with our plans to travel back to the Northwestern United States this summer.
Hope you are staying warm and cozy. Thanks for following along.
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