City Buried by Reservoir 50 Years Ago Exposed During Drought
OutdoorHub Reporters 07.23.12
For nearly the past 50 years, four cities have been sitting at the bottom of a reservoir near Huntington County, Indiana. During this year’s drought, one of those four cities has been exposed and is available for exploration.
In 1967, before the Salamonie Reservoir could be created, four cities had to be flooded. Now people that come to the reservoir have been finding items from half a century ago, according to Wayne Ley, assistant manager of the reservoir.
“They’ve found old door knobs, different things you could find around a house, maybe a coin or two,” Ley told WLFI 18.
Foundation of houses, roads and the building blocks of an old school house are now exposed. Ley explained that the wood was taken away leaving only the foundations. He thinks it might be a good fish habitat, although it’s not a good place for boaters. Old house foundations, roads and other parts of the underwater city may be closer to the surface than normal.
Along with the four cities, a few cemeteries were buried, but not until after the graves were moved. Still, some unmarked graves were washed away and have been discovered in unusual places. Oftentimes, anglers fishing along the shore will spot some bones.
In the 34 years that Ley has worked there, he has never seen anything like this before and he hopes that other people will be able to get a chance to see it before it is submerged again.
View scenes of the city from WLFI coverage.
