Dayton flood photograph

Caption reads: "John H. Patterson directing rescue work, the Dayton flood, March 1913." John H. Patterson was a business man who founded the National Cash Register Company. He led recovery efforts during the flood and formed the Dayton Citizen's Relief Commission, following the 1913 flood that devastated the Miami Valley. The Relief Commission quickly raised a $2 million Flood Prevention Fund and employed Arthur Morgan, who later was the first director of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Morgan Engineering Company to develop a flood protection plan for the city of Dayton. After some preliminary survey work, Morgan's engineers concluded that effective flood protection was too large an undertaking for one community and would require the cooperative action of the entire Miami Valley. Since Ohio did not have a law that would permit a regional cooperative undertaking of this nature, the Conservancy Act of Ohio was prepared and passed by the legislature on February 14, 1914. The day after the signing of the Conservancy Act by the governor, a petition was filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County asking for the establishment of the Miami Conservancy District