Title:
Charleston Flood Aftermath — Magazine Hollow, West Virginia (1963)
REEL ID:
L062R020C
RUN TIME:
00:14:37
FORMAT:
16mm motion picture film
FILM TYPE:
Color Kodak Kodachrome and unkown
SOUND:
Silent (no synchronized sound)
PRODUCTION:
Amateur / personal home movie footage
Description:
This home movie from 1963 documents the aftermath of the devastating flood that struck Charleston, with footage centered in the Magazine Hollow neighborhood—an area heavily impacted by floodwaters. Shot on color 16mm film without synchronized sound, the reel provides a rare, ground-level record of disaster, recovery, and everyday life in the wake of catastrophe.
The film opens with laundry hanging on outdoor clotheslines—an ordinary domestic scene set against extraordinary destruction. The camera then moves through Magazine Hollow, revealing ruined homes, collapsed structures, and entire neighborhoods altered by flood damage. In several shots, buildings remain standing while the ground beneath them has been washed away, including a store that remains open for business despite having no visible foundation below—an especially striking image of resilience amid instability.
Widespread damage fills the frame: houses torn apart, streets undermined, and properties bearing the marks of powerful floodwaters that swept through the valley. The scale and pattern of destruction align with the Charleston flood of 1963, which severely affected low-lying communities along local creeks and hollows. Residents are seen working together to clear debris, repair homes, and restore their neighborhood—quiet, collective efforts that speak to communal resolve.
The reel concludes on a more intimate and human note, returning to daily life with a family reading together on a front porch. This final image underscores endurance and continuity, emphasizing that even after disaster, ordinary life resumes.
Preserved as a personal record, this footage stands as an important visual document of the 1963 Charleston, West Virginia flood, capturing both the physical devastation of Magazine Hollow and the resilience of the people who lived there.
Tags:
1963, Charleston West Virginia, Magazine Hollow, West Virginia flood, Flood aftermath, Natural disaster, Storm damage, Flood damage, Destroyed houses, Washed-out foundations, Store without foundation, Neighborhood cleanup, Community recovery, Laundry on clothesline, Front porch reading, Home movies, 16mm film, Color home movies, Silent film, Documentary-style home movie, Midcentury America, Americana, Analog film, Archival disaster footage
