Maine Memory Network

Gannett Publishing Company newspapers included the Portland Press Herald, Evening Express, Kennebec Journal (Augusta), and the Waterville Sentinel. Staff photographers, known as “photo reporters,” covered the unprecedented 1936 flood disaster from land, air, and even from the water.

Photo reporters with camera equipment paddled boats through ordinarily busy city streets. They documented the flood’s impact, including two men rowing into a Saco-area garage, and a battered outbuilding tilted on its side. In the floating debris, toward the left of the titled garage, is a flight of wooden stairs torn loose from the side of the building.

Flooding along the Saco River impacted hundreds of families in Biddeford and Saco and paralyzed industries located in riverside plants, seen in this aerial view. The picture showcases Spring’s Island, in the middle of the river, totally isolated and homes evacuated. Biddeford’s Saco-Lowell Company mill is seen at the lower right, with the City of Saco along the top of the photograph.

This photograph appeared on the front page of the Kennebec Journal’s “Maine Flood Disaster” pictorial review. March 1936’s monumental flood was the first major disaster covered by Guy Gannett’s newly formed Portland Flying Service photo division. This style of photojournalism reshaped how Gannett Publishing operated and helped lay the stylistic groundwork for their future news coverage.

Built in 1931, a new state-operated toll bridge connected the towns of Richmond and Dresden. In March of 1936, the collected tolls had not yet paid for its operating expenses. The Portland Press Herald noted, “Nature showed that she is no respecter of finances or state budgets.”

In this aerial view, taken by Guy Gannett’s Portland Flying Service, the ice-packed Kennebec River violently tore off several bridge sections and, under intense pressure, moved them downstream, past the village of Richmond.

Local newspapers highlighted the widespread destruction of state infrastructure, including bridges, dams, and highways.

A detached piece of the Richmond-Dresden bridge floated downstream in the ice-choked Kennebec River. Bridges along the Kennebec, unable to withstand the pressure of thousands of tons of water backed up by ice jams, tore from their foundations during the night of Friday, March 13.

Gannett’s Portland Flying Service conducted multiple flights over the flood-ravaged area, possibly spanning several days, with a focus on the plight of the Richmond-Dresden bridge. The Kennebec Journal’s pictorial review featured photographs of the bridge before, during, and after its upheaval.

Gannett’s photographers reported on the disaster from seemingly every angle. Their photos culminated in several editions of magazine quality pictorial reviews titled “MAINE FLOOD DISASTER OF FRIDAY, THE 13TH OF MARCH 1936.” The reviews served as comprehensive documentation, and as a blueprint for other special coverage events by Gannett Publishing Company. The varied editions often included photographs of flooded urban streets and automobiles navigating treacherous road conditions.

Maine’s capital city Augusta sustained significant damage when the Kennebec River’s water volume reached the highest on record to that date. The Augusta post office, with large castle-like turrets, is shown surrounded by water. A shadow from the airplane obscures the lower right of the image.

Aerial photography was dangerous and technically challenging for photographers. To capture an aerial photograph, according to Gannett, the pilot had to bank the plane “well over on its side” while the photographer leaned “well out of the plane’s open door.” Depending on factors like the time of day, direction, or angle, these shots could unintentionally include parts of the airplane or its shadow.

Guy Gannett flew as co-pilot on several trips, likely present in the plane during the 1936 flood aerial photo shoots. Gannett penned several articles that vividly told of the suffering caused by the massive flood. Accompanying Gannett were Portland Flying Service pilot Gilbert F. Pond and photographer H.F. Troxel.

Neighbors and community members responded to a call for help from those impacted by the flood. The Portland Fire Department pressed members into rescue work service. In this photograph, Private Stanley D. Royles of Engine Six helped Muriel and Pauline Staples of Saco, with a grin. Firefighters also assisted by pumping fresh water, which was in short supply, to flood victims.

Photo reporters humanized the disaster with images of community members, printed in the pictorial reviews and local newspapers, alongside aerial views, and disaster sites.

The Kennebec River’s forceful flow transformed Hallowell’s Water Street into a true reflection of its name—a “water” street. This vital thoroughfare played a crucial role connecting area towns. Positioned prominently at the heart of the photograph, the street lay just behind the foreground buildings.

The waters raged with such intensity it rendered Water Street impassable on foot. The Portland Press Herald reported that water forced fifty families to evacuate their homes. The Red Cross promptly intervened and provided essential assistance.

The diversity of subject matter within 1936 flood aerials, and the approximately 920 aerial images included in the Portland Press Herald glass negative collection at Maine Historical Society, highlight Gannett Publishing Company’s appreciation of comprehensive aerial photography as an extension of their photojournalistic endeavors, rather than a fanciful addition.

In 1935 Guy Gannett Publishing Company purchased and subsequently absorbed the Portland Flying Service, along with its 1935 Stinson Monoplane and 35-pound Fairchild F8 Aerial Camera.

This acquisition established an in-house aerial photography division for Gannett. Aerial photographers, holding the camera, daringly leaned out of planes to create images.

Catastrophic flooding and weather phenomena used to be once-in-a-generation.

In the 21st century, with the impacts from climate change, devastating weather patterns are widespread, unsustainable, and unpredictable.