By Jessica L., Hamilton County Historian
Hamilton County suffered historic flooding this summer. The Crossroads Discovery Center at the Hamilton East Public Library is reaching out to the community to help document the flood and its impact for future researchers and historians.
A community archive of digital photos and stories will be created so future researchers and residents of Hamilton County can learn about the flood and remember its effects.
The Crossroads Discovery Center hopes that alongside official documentation from municipalities and similar groups, stories and information from residents directly affected can be gathered to highlight the human impact of the flood and its aftermath.
Please consider submitting your photos and memories of the experience for the library’s archive by December 31, 2026.
You can do this by following the guidelines below and submitting your information to [email protected]
If you don’t have photos or videos, please still submit your stories!
For all submissions, please include:
- Your name, and the name of the photographer, if applicable
- Your phone number
- Your home address
Please note: your phone number, email address, and home address will not be available to the public.
For photos and videos, include:
- The date and time (if possible) each photo was taken
- A description of each photo or video. Tell us where the photo was taken, what the photo is, why you included it.
- Please submit up to 10 items. If you can’t send it in a single email, you can submit multiple times. Please include a description for each individual photo.
Things to remember:
- Submit photos or videos that you yourself have taken, or photos someone you know took. Do not submit screenshots of other people’s photos.
- Be sure your photos or videos are clear and concise. Even if your description is good, a blurry photo or video that includes unrelated footage won’t be helpful.
- Remember these photos will be publicly available, so do not submit inappropriate content.
If you are having trouble submitting photos or would like to have your story recorded in our audio lab, please reach out to us to make an appointment with us.
Please note: we appreciate any and all submissions. If you submit information, there is a chance we will include it in our permanent archive. This means that future researchers will be able to view the data and may use it for educational purposes by crediting you and the library. Also note, however, that there is a chance we won’t be able to include every submission in our archive.
The flooding of 2026 was historic in so many ways. Collecting these stories will ensure that history will not be forgotten.
Flooding photos above provided by Matthew Doubt Photography.
Example Submission:
Name: Katherine T.
Phone Number: 317-555-5555
Address: 1234 Eller Road, Fishers IN
Photos taken: August 15 taken between 9:45-10am and August 22 at 11am
These photos were taken at Heritage Park in Fishers and I originally took them to show my parents, who live nearby, so they could see how far the river had come up. I took these in the morning before the park was closed to the public. These photos are of the large green space at the bottom of the hill inside the park. The path that normally goes back into the wooded area and to the bridge over the White River was completely flooded and inaccessible by foot. I wanted to include these photos because I hadn’t really seen any footage from Heritage Park during
the flood.
Other notes?
The one thing that really stood out to me was the insane number of mosquitos after the water had receded. It made being outside, particularly in the evening, unbearable.
