I was reminded by this thread:
of a photo I saw once, of a town that was under water. I think the pic was taken from a road led down into the water, and you could see the ghostly shapes of buildings under the surface.
Anybody familiar with this pic and the situation? It didn’t look like a “standard” flood, maybe more like the result of a dam being built (or removed, I suppose).
It was a color pic, IIRC.
One possible location for this would be the Ladybower reservoir, in Derbyshire, England. Two villages were submerged in the creation of the reservoir, which flooded a whole valley. In the long summer of 1976 (and possibly more recently), the water levels dropped low enough that some of the roofs of the buildings rose above the water. So a photo like you describe could easily have been taken, either before or after the lowest water levels were reached. (I’m searching Google for pictures now)
Thanks G-man. I would have guessed it was an American town, but it may well could have been Derbyshire.
Like probably you, I had no luck finding any pics with Google image search that looked anything like my recollection, using ‘Derbyshire’ or ‘Ladybower’ or the names of the two towns which I had found but do not now remember.
I had no luck with Google for that, either! Ah well, I suppose it just adds a possibility to your list 
Lake Shasta CA has a town under it
There is also a town under Smith Mountain Lake, VA
The town of St Thomas under Lake Mead, NV is dry now. You can hike to the town, used to be under 65 feet of water.
Thanks drachillix.
Just to narrow it down, I suppose the town wouldn’t be completely submerged, or is at least on the edge of whatever body of water it is submerged into, since the pic was taken from dry land.
Or it was actually flooding, and not a dam, that submerged just an area of the town.
Have you any recollection of what the terrain was like, or the vegetation (was there trees, for instance?) All could help narrow it down.
No, I just remember the pic was taken from a dry part of a road, and the road went down into the the submerged part of the town. You could see a submerged street sign of some kind I believe, and buildings.
I don’t recall if there mountains or anything. But it had to be at least hilly, for the road go to go steeply into the submerged part of the town.
Could it be from the Paducah (KY) Great Flood of 1937? That was a serious flood where a good portion of downtown was partially submerged.
I don’t think so brianjedi, the picture was in color so I think it was something much more recent. Thanks though.
I’ve seen the same picture, and I’m pretty sure it was Whiskeytown Lake near Redding, CA. I’ve confirmed with my boyfriend, who lives in Redding, that there is indeed a spot where you used to be able to see the road, complete with yellow line, disappearing into the lake, and there’s submerged road signs and all that. Now it’s mostly covered with rocks and it’s used as a beach.
Can’t find the picture, though…
Cool Mishell! I also failed to find anything with your info, but maybe somebody else will have better luck.
Do you know if the submerged area was part of Redding, or a different city?
Apparently that particular town was called Heroult.
And here are a few other leads:
The town was called Whiskeytown, but I can’t find much information on it, this is the most I could find:
“Whiskeytown (SRL 131), on SR 299 between Shasta and Weaverville, was
settled in 1849. It was a lively place, as its name might imply, where
money was plentiful and freely spent. The U.S.Post Office Department
refused to allow the name WHISKEYTOWN as a postal designation until 1952.
Prior to that, the post office had been called Blair, later Stella, and
finally Schilling. The old town now lies beneath Whiskeytown Lake, created
by the Whiskeytown Dam; a new Whiskeytown lies on higher ground on what is
now the lakeshore. Whiskeytown Dam was dedicated by President John F.
Kennedy on September 28, 1963. on his last trip to California and less than
two months before his assassination.”
I’m putting something together, check back later today
I just got off the phone with my mother in law in Cornwall, Ontario and had a long discussion about the lost villages of the St Lawrence Seaway.
The Seaway was created to let large ocean going vassals travel from the Gulf of the St Lawrence all the way to Lake Superior. The government of Canada at the time thought it was a financially viable venture because they believed it would help business greatly.
Unfortunately for Canada, the real benefactors of this mammoth project were the coastal American towns around Mesena, NY.
The entire St Lawrence between Cornwall and Montreal was deepened and widened, as a result, many towns and villages were flooded and lost.
Many of the buildings were removed and transferred to a outdoor museum called “Upper Canada Village”
The lost towns were
Aultsville
Farran’s Point
Dickensen’s Landing
Moullinette
Milleroches
Woodlands
There may be a couple more…
My wife and I sometimes camp at Woodlands Park, and from there, on a clear sunny day, you can see sidewalks and roads under water, it’s really a creepy feeling to see old Highway #2 disappearing under water right before your eyes.
Also when you get out on the river, in certain areas you can see the tops of chimneys coming straight up from below, but not protruding the water of course.
A little info about the SEAWAY:
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0843098.html
More info
http://www.legionmagazine.com/features/canadianreflections/03-05.asp
I’ve tried in vain to find photos, but to no avail.
Next time I’m there I can take some photos of the roads underwater, if that would help.
Good luck
Wow, thanks for all the info guys!
If you were to take some pics next time you’re there, that would be great CrazyFoo. Don’t go to too much trouble though.
I remember a small article in a National Geographic within the last ten years regarding a village in Italy which was submerged when a dam was built nearby.
The dam was being serviced and the waters were let loose, allowing the sunken village to see daylight once more: An elderly local gentleman took great joy in re-exploring the houses and streets of his childhood.
I’m sure I saw that too! I’ll fire up my copy of “The Complete National Geographic” and see if I can find the article, perhaps the pic was from there.
Found the article, the Italian town is (was) Fabbriche di Careggine. There’s some good pics on the web of it being exposed:
http://www.ursea.it/gite/fabbriche_careggine/fabbriche_di_careggine.htm
http://xoomer.virgilio.it/djiokfdm/djiokfdm/fabbriche_di_careggine.html
Not what I’m looking for, but still cool pics!