hamilton county
White River
Glaciers formed the White River Basin about 20,000 years ago. Waterways wound and changed shape for thousands of years while establishing the White River as the waterway it is today. Tributaries Stony Creek and Cicero Creek feed into the 25 miles of White River in Hamilton County.
White settlers traveled into the area a year after the Treaty of St. Mary’s in 1818. Strawtown and what is known today as Conner Prairie were the original settlements in 1820. Bicknell Cole and William Conner were both highly dependent on the River.
Early Native settlements of Hamilton County including the Myaamia (Miami Nation), the Kaskaskia (Peoria Tribe), Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), and the Lenape (Delaware Tribe) all chose locations along the White River.
Hamilton County, named after Alexander Hamilton, was organized in 1823 as 9 townships covering 400 square miles.
Flood Stages
| CATEGORY | STAGE |
|---|---|
| Major Flooding | 22 ft |
| Moderate Flooding | 19 ft |
| Minor Flooding | 14 ft |
| Action | 10 ft |
Historic Crests
| 1. | 23.80 ft | 03-25-1913 |
| 2. | 21.86 ft | 07-10-2003 |
| 3. | 21.31 ft | 04-22-1964 |
| 4. | 21.29 ft | 12-31-1990 |
| 5. | 21.00 ft | 01-13-2005 |
Morse Reservoir
Morse Reservoir has around 35 miles of shoreline surrounding a 1500-acre body of water. Howard Morse planned Indianapolis’ second reservoir, Morse Reservoir. The reservoir was built by the Indianapolis Water Company (now part of Citizens Energy Group), which also built the Geist Reservoir in the 1940’s, and was dedicated on July 31, 1956.
Historic Crests
| 1. | 813.44 ft | 04-19-2013 |
| 2. | 812.95 ft | 06-28-1957 |
| 3. | 812.38 ft | 05-05-2017 |
| 4. | 812.06 ft | 01-13-2013 |
| 5. | 812.05 ft | 04-04-2018 |
Geist Reservoir
In 1943, Geist Reservoir was filled after the Indianapolis Water Company built a dam across Fall Creek and initially flooded about 1,800 acres. Clarence Geist and other water company executives were not deterred by the presence of the historic Germantown village on part of the reservoir site. Germantown’s structures, which included houses, a post office and a mill, remain underwater in the reservoir today.
Historic Crests
| 1. | 788.02 ft | 05-18-1943 |
| 2. | 787.79 ft | 12-23-2013 |
| 3. | 787.08 ft | 01-14-2013 |
| 4. | 786.94 ft | 04-05-2018 |
| 5. | 786.71 ft | 05-06-2017 |
