That’s the Ohio River with a bridge connecting downtown Cincinnati on the right to Covington, Kentucky on the left.
Floodwalls are walls built to prevent water entering an area. Not every town along a river has one – actually – most towns don’t. Cincinnati doesn’t. Covington and Newport Kentucky have them, but this post is about the one in Covington.
Led by artist Robert Dafford, his team of artists created 18 murals on the floodwall illustrating the Covington’s history from 800 BCE to the present. The collection is known as the Roebling Murals because of their location near the Roebling Bridge, a suspension bridge built by the same designer before the famous Brooklyn Bridge.
Dafford also created others murals throughout the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys, plus others in France, Belgium, England, and Canada. Enjoy a look at the Roebling Murals of Covington, Kentucky. Any favorites?
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Although these are very traditional, Resa needs to know about them.
A Frank Angle 
I love the bison and the steamboats.
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Eileen,
Thanks for sharing your favorites. Interestingly, they involve difference of many, many years.
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Indeed. I like the idea of what the country looked like before European immigrants took it over. And I love the steamboats – I studied them a lot for my gold rush book (even went on a river cruise). Plus there’s my “crush” on Mark Twain…
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Growing up in a river town, people would gather to watch the Delta Queen sail by.
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Thank you Frank for sharing those beautiful murals of art work. Some amazing talent out there.
We here in the UK could do with our own flood walls right now. Lots of property flooded in the next county and rivers bursting their banks. Thank goodness for our hill.
Sending thoughts your way my friend 💚
Enjoy your week.🙋
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Sue,
Glad you enjoyed these murals. Lined up in a row, they tell an interesting story. Interesting to think that there are times when water covers these works of art. …. Warm thoughts received. 🙂
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Venice in Italy is now also suffering more works of art being covered by the water, as the hide tides flood the streets.. And here again the rain is relentless..
Warm thoughts sent back my friend.. ❤
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Yes – I saw that on the news. Such an interesting place. Regarding your rain – stay dry.
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I got wet through just shopping this morning Frank.. and will be hibernating the rest of the day lol.. Thank you .. Take care too
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Stay in for something productive and some warm tea.
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Going to do exactly that Frank..
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Whoa…that’s some kind of fantastic city art! Bravo, Covington.
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Monika,
These murals makes Covington shine. Nearby is also a district of riverfront mansions.
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Superb artworks, Frank. Thanks for sharing and I hope you week is a good one. 😃
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Sylvia,
Nothing fancy about this art … simply well done paintings done in a traditional style. Glad you enjoyed them.
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I was glad to see something of the Underground Railroad was depicted (although sorry to read about the outcome for that family). I like the trolley and the steamboats. They have a floodwall in Huntington, WV, along the Ohio. I wonder if they’ve done anything similar with it?
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Robin,
As a river gal, I knew you would be aware of floodwalls. Thanks for letting me know you favs. FYI: A quick search indicates nothing on the Huntington wall. However, Portsmouth is known for the murals on its wall.
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Such beautiful murals! Hard to pick really… Bisons did come first and fireworks [the light reflections on the water] and snow scene – Amazing work!
Yamas, Frank! 🙂
ps. Resa Resa… where art thou?!!!! 😉
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Marina,
Definitely not in the street art category, but beautiful So well done! Thanks for sharing your favs – but for whatever reason, I didn’t link Resa – so I better get word to her.
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🙂 🙂
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I love the old ball yard!
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Marc,
Now why am I not surprised you spotted that. Then again, I included that one for you and other baseball fans. Yes – Federal Ball Park – home of the Covington Blue Sox.
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I love the old ballparks. The new ones sport glimpses of ’em, but of course, none can match it because it would be totally impractical.
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Hopefully you see the dimensions in the next comment.
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PS: How about these dimensions: 194 feet to right, 267 feet to dead center, and 218 feet to left.
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Little league!
That’s another thing about the old parks, those dimensions. Like, the old Yankee Stadium was something like 470 to deep center, and 300 on the line.
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Probably the smallest park in its day. The old MLB parks sometimes had odd dimensions because they build around something. Look behind the right field wall at Cleveland’s League Park.
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The Polo Grounds was crazy like that. And Shibe Park.
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All of them … Crosley, Baker Bowl, Fenway, Forbes, Braves Field … and the list goes on.
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Baker Bowl is a good one.
I was struck by how small Fenway was. It was like watching a game in someone’s finished basement.
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It’s good to see modern murals (all of them favorites). It reminds me that colorful mural artwork covered the walls of many old post offices from the 1930’s and 1940’s.
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C-A-L,
Glad you enjoyed these. Definitely wonderful work … and on a large scale. Great way to tell a local story.
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Thanks for your interesting post about the history of our city. I’ve been planning to visit a new restaurant in Covington and will stop by to look at the murals. I liked the one with the streetcar.
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Tim,
Seems you’ve never been over to take a closer look at these. They will engage you through your artistic eye and appreciate of history. Enjoy … and I look forward to your report.
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Wonderful Frank! I adore historic murals. There’s not much of that in Toronto, however, Winnipeg is flush with them
I discovered murals in Winnipeg, when my mom was passing. I lived there for 3 months, to be with her at the end. The home she was in was surrounded by historic murals. I started taking pics of them, as a way to ease my mind.
When I returned to Toronto, I was in a state of incredulity to find art in the streets here. It was very different from Winnipeg, but I love it all!
Then I started the street art blog. Many of my early posts are murals from Winnipeg. They have branched out, now and it’s not all historic murals. I need to go back and catch up on the art there. http://www.themuralsofwinnipeg.com/
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Resa,
So glad you saw these … (Did you see Marina’s comment?) Thanks for the bit of your history regarding murals This is an impressive collection, which actually are underwater sometimes!
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Love this Frank!
That firework scene at night is stunning.
Thank you for sharing!
♡
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That’s really neat. Thanks for sharing, Frank.
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For a brief second – and only a brief second – I thought, Resa was going to have competition. LoL
Totally different mural art. Street art is raw emotion exposed for all to witness. Historic murals depict times gone by which should never be forgotten. Great post, aFrank. I liked all the murals. Sady, I’m an art lover addicted to them all. I love, love, love any kind of art.
BTW … I used to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge on teen dates with my hubby to Manhattan to visit museums and the huge library. sweet times … 😊
Isadora😎
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How impressive! I’m always awed by how art makes its way into the ordinary. Not that a flood wall is not impressive in its own function and design. Very interesting post, Frank.
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Debra,
Glad you enjoyed this unique flood wall – besides I know how much you enjoy history! Imagine a tour of the collection with a narrator!
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I do like the one with the boats on the river. I could just stare at that for ages.
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Lenora,
And to make it better, as one stares at the mural of the boats on the river, maybe a boat actually passes. … now that’s synchronicity!
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