I was a senior at Winona State University when the 1965 flood hit town. We knew it was coming, as towns upriver suffered great damage. It was decided to build a dike, which ended up covering about 11 miles of riverfront, from Prairie Island to the East end of Winona.
Many businesses filled sandbags and placed them around their buildings. A friend of mine had a father working at Froedtert malting and we worked for two days filling sandbags to protect the property. I also worked on building the dike along the river.
I remember working out by Prairie Island and looking at a house with water up to its eaves. If you now go out to the Prairie Island campground, closely look at the speed limit sign as you enter. The water got up on that sign. The water actually got up on the Chicago Northwestern bridge that crossed the river. The railroad loaded rail cars with coal and drove them onto the bridge to prevent the bridge from being swept away by the river.
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Water seeped up onto the streets of lower parts of the river side of the city and some residents went down the streets paddling in flat-bottomed boats. I distinctly remember on Third Street, a manhole cover had been forced up by the back pressure from the river; the water had backed up through the sewer system and it was gushing out onto the street. We quickly piled up some sandbags, about four feet high. At this point, the water was at the same level as the river on the other side of the dike.
Constructing the dike was a major project. As I recall, some local companies loaned their earth moving equipment for this construction. This was the city, against the river. We worked on the dikes around the clock. I was excused from classes at WSU to work on the dike. The dike was lined with plastic sheeting, which was covered with boulders to help keep it in place. Inspectors continuously walked the dikes to look for any erosion.
Transportation in and out of the city was impacted. The railroads serving Winona had to stop running trains because their tracks were covered with water. The Burlington had part of its roadbed washed away. There was a day when Hwy. 61 was closed because there was water on the highway. Many Winona homeowners had water in their basements. This was an epic flood.
If I remember correctly, a commemorative coin was later minted, copper in color, about the size of a quarter. On it was the inscription, “Winona, the city that saved itself.” This was a time indeed when the city bonded together to save itself from the Mississippi.
