If there’s one thing history proves about this town, it’s that Falmouth doesn’t fold, it rebuilds. Again and again.
Since its founding in 1793, nestled at the confluence of the Licking River and Main Street life, Falmouth has taken more than its fair share of beatings from nature. And yet, every time, the town has found a way to clean up, help each other, and press on.
The Flood Years
The water has never made it easy.
1883 and 1884 brought some of the earliest recorded floods, washing through streets and fields.
1913, 1920, and 1927 continued the pattern, soaking basements, buckling roads, and straining the town’s patience.
1937 became legend: The Ohio River flood spread into the Licking River basin, submerging parts of Falmouth and testing every able hand.
In 1964, the river crested at 47 feet, swallowing homes, leaving only rooftops and memories.
Then came 1997, the worst yet, 80% of Falmouth underwater, five lives lost, and a community left with mud, tears, and $50 million in damages.
Even as recently as 2025, rising water forced evacuations again but Falmouth stood ready, shaped by the past and unwilling to let history win.
Tornadoes That Tore, But Never Broke
On April 23, 1968, the sky split open with an F4 tornado, 180 homes destroyed, 380 more damaged, four dead, and hundreds injured. Entire blocks leveled.
But the aftermath? Neighbors rebuilding each other’s porches. Churches doubling as shelters. Kids going to school in makeshift classrooms. The kind of spirit that turns rubble into resolve.
When the Earth Moved
Even back in 1811 and 1812, the mighty New Madrid earthquakes were felt all the way here. Buildings shook. The river sloshed strangely. And settlers few and far between, held on, literally and figuratively. They stayed. They built.
So What Does It Say About The People Of Falmouth?
It says Falmouth is not defined by the disasters but by the people who show up afterward. By the hands that grab shovels. The strangers who become family. The storefronts that light back up. The school plays that go on, even if the gym floor is still drying.
Every flood. Every twister. Every tremor. Falmouth doesn’t vanish, it adapts, unites, and rises.
And while the disasters get the headlines, the real story has always been the quiet comeback. The ordinary people doing extraordinary things, over and over, for more than 230 years.
If you live here, you already know:
We’re not flood-proof, tornado-proof, or earthquake-proof. But we’re damn sure built to come back.
And we always will.
Whisper One Out
Floodwaters, Twisters, and Tremors: Falmouth Always Rises
