These murals portray the history of Portsmouth, Ohio from the
mound building Indians to the present day, and use a 20ft. high,
2000 ft. long floodwall as a canvas.
2002 marks the tenth and final year of the creation of the city
of Portsmouth, Ohio's Floodwall Mural Project. These murals portray
the history of the area from the mound building Indians to the
present day, and use a 20ft. high, 2000 ft. long floodwall as
a canvas. The project runs the length of the historic district
and will include approximately 50 different scenes.
In
1992 the idea for the Portsmouth Flood Wall Murals was born. Robert
Dafford, an internationally known muralist from Lafayette, Louisiana,
was contracted for the project. The first mural was completed
in 1993. The murals are arranged chronologically from east to
west, starting with the depiction of the Mound Builders, who are
ancestors of the Shawnee Indians. The series of murals are a visual
history of the Portsmouth area.
