As communities along the Big Thompson River mark the 50th anniversary of the 1976 flood, a new exhibition at the Loveland Museum invites visitors to remember not only the devastation that occurred but also the extraordinary response that followed.
The exhibit, Community Recovery: Big Thompson Flood 50 Years Later, opens this evening with a public reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the museum. The exhibition features historic photographs, maps, artifacts recovered from the canyon, paintings, and oral histories that document both the tragedy and the remarkable resilience of the communities affected.
For Ashley Yager, the museum’s collections manager and curator of the exhibit, the story is as much about the people who came together afterward as it is about the flood itself.
“There were so many people who volunteered their time in so many different aspects of recovery that I really wanted to highlight, because I think it’s a very inspiring story of how many people came together,” Yager said.
The flood remains Colorado’s deadliest natural disaster. A stationary thunderstorm stalled over the headwaters of the Big Thompson Canyon on the night of July 31, 1976, dropping more than a half-foot of rain in about an hour. The resulting wall of water claimed 144 lives, destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, swept away sections of U.S. Highway 34, and forever changed emergency management in Colorado. Five people remain missing.
While the exhibit includes dramatic photographs showing stretches of highway erased from the landscape, mangled cars smashed against boulders, and houses moved off their foundations and deposited on top of bridges, Yager said she wanted visitors to understand what happened after the floodwaters receded.
Among the stories featured are those of Mennonite volunteers, who traveled to the canyon to help rebuild, and the formation of Interfaith, a coalition of churches created to provide long-term assistance after government emergency responders left the area.
Visitors will also see deeply personal artifacts donated by flood survivors and their families.
One recent addition is a handsaw discovered under the hood of a Jeep after floodwaters trapped Larry Walker and his wife while they were returning from a Hewlett-Packard picnic in Hermit Park. Somehow, the saw had floated into the vehicle’s engine compartment during the torrent.
Other artifacts belonged to author Sharlynn Walmsley’s grandmother, whose cabin was swept away. One item, a piece of needlepoint, has been carefully cleaned, while another remains much as it was found after the flood, preserving the physical scars left behind.
Interactive displays will allow visitors to listen to oral histories recorded shortly after the disaster, preserving firsthand accounts from survivors and responders.
Yager acknowledges that the exhibit may be emotional for many visitors, particularly those who lived through the disaster or lost family members.
“I definitely think we will have some tissues in here because no matter what, people who lived through it — it’s tough seeing this.”
The museum is also planning related public programs this fall, including a presentation by the National Weather Service examining the meteorological conditions that led to the flood and additional programs focused on reflection and healing.
For Yager, preserving these stories is increasingly urgent as the number of people with firsthand memories of the flood continues to decline.
“I think we really need to, because it was such a momentous part of our history,” she said.
The exhibition runs through November 28, 2026, in the Dunning Gallery at the Loveland Museum, 503 N. Lincoln Ave., Loveland. The museum is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On the second Friday of each month, it is open until 8 p.m. Admission is $7 for Loveland residents and $10 for non-residents. Admission is free for children 12 and under.
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