1950 Aitkin County Flood
The spring of 1950 saw the Mississippi River rise to its highest recorded level since 1888. The river started rising on April 15 and by May 20 the peak of 19.5 feet was reached. The river did not return to normal levels until June 15, for a total of 58 days of flooding. In Aitkin alone, 88 houses, an additional 100 basements, and 44 business buildings were inundated. Approximately 57,000 acres of cropland and pasture in Aitkin County were flooded. Total estimated damages were $1,705,300. Since then, a channel was dug to divert water from Aitkin; this is the only diversion channel on the Mississippi between its source, Lake Itasca, and the Gulf of Mexico. In the 1970s a dike was also built along the river north of town to mitigate flooding. Read Fritz Lueck's recollections of Mississippi River floods starting on page 2 here.