Next year, Hamilton will commemorate one of the most significant events of its history with a series of programs and exhibitions for the 100th anniversary of the 1913 flood.

Hamilton City Council has designated March 1 to May 4 as the commemoration period, the effort is being led by Curt Ellison, director of the Michael J. Colligan History Project.

The first exhibition, “The Destruction of Industrial Hamilton During the 1913 Flood,” is already on view at the Heritage Hall Museum, 20 High St., and the first galleries of hundreds of photos and postcards the committee has collected is on view at the Colligan History Project’s website, www.colliganproject.org.

Currently, the post card collection of Hamilton City Councilman Rob Wile has been scanned and posted, nearly 15o images, and the collections of Jack Armstrong and Mary Jo Eckert will soon join them.

The first scheduled discussion is set for 2 p.m. Jan. 8, when local historian Jim Blount presents “Flood Warning! Was Hamilton Prepared for 1913 Disaster?” at the Lane Library, 300 N. Third St.

The kick-off for the official commemoration period takes place at noon March 25 at the Butler County Courthouse Gazebo, which will include city officials, speakers, Hamilton schools, and guests commemorating the 100th anniversary of the high-water date.

Plans are also under way for various sculptures to be placed around the downtown area that will show the high water levels of those particular sites, and walking tours in which costumed actors tell the stories of how the city responded to the flood, March 24 and 30 and April 6.

The commemoration will wrap up with a May 4 concert at the new RiversEdge Park and Amphitheatre, featuring the Rabbit Hash String band presenting “Songs and Stories of River Life.”

Other events on the schedule include:

• “Ohio’s Greatest Weather Disaster: The 1913 Flood in Hamilton and Beyond,” 7 p.m. March 5, Wilks Center, Miami University Hamilton, presented by Trudy E. Bell, a science writer from Lakewood, Ohio;
• “Hamilton in Crisis: Who Came to City’s Rescue after March 1913 Flood?,” 2 p.m. March 12, and “Remember the Promises We Made in the Attic! Obstacles to Preventing Another 1913 Flood,” 2 p.m. April 9, both presented by Jim Blount at the Lane Library.
• A Hamilton Community Symposium titled “The Dam Lie That Saved Lives: Hamilton Family Stories of the 1913 Flood,” will be 7 p.m. March 26 at the Wilks Center, led by Blount.
• “A Talk with Tom Rentschler,” honorary chair of the 1913 Flood Commemoration Committee, 7 p.m. April 10 at the Wilks Center.
• Civic Leaders Forum on “The Future of the Great Miami River in Civic Life,” 7 p.m. May 3 at the Miami Hamilton Downtown center.

Other programs on the meteorology of the 1913 flood, modern forecasting of river depth, the building of the Miami Conservancy District and the bridges of Hamilton during the flood are being planned but not yet scheduled.

The 1913 Flood Commemoration Committee includes representatives from the Butler County Historical Society, Hamilton Community Foundation, Hamilton Visitor’s Center, Miami University Hamilton, Lane Libraries, City of Hamilton and Hamilton City School District as well as citizens with an interest in local history.