Some of you might have seen our recent post about the snowstorms in the US. However, you may or may not know that a much more devastating storm hit the east coast of America 128 years ago today.
On March 11th 1888, what came to be known as The Great White Hurricane caused three days of chaos across New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. It was one of the most severely recorded blizzards in the history of the United States and 400 people were estimated to have died as a result.
The storm left up to 60 inches (152cm) of snow and created towering snowdrifts 50ft (15 metres) high. Some people were stuck in their houses for a week (yes, that’s right, without tv or internet) and trains and telephone lines were disabled.
Still, one good thing did come from the Great White Hurricane: the city of Boston, alarmed by the gridlock caused by the blizzard, decide to build a subway, and nine years later The Boston subway became the first underground rail network in the US.
#1 Miss Porter’s School In Farmington, Ct After The “Great White Hurricane” Snow Storm Of 1888
#2 The Great White Hurricane
Image source: Wood Museum of Springfield History
#3 Springfield, Massachusetts
#4 Man Standing By Snow Hut, After Blizzard Of 1888, With U.s. Capitol In Background, Washington
Image source: loc.gov
#5 Carts Take The Snow From The City And Dump Them In The East River, New York
#6 Trolley Is Pushing Through The Snow, Washington, DC
#7 Brooklyn Bridge During The Blizzard
Image source: LIFE Photo Archive
#8 Derailed Train Already Half-Buried In The Snow, harlem Railroad In The State Of New York
Image source: New York Historical Society
#9 Store’s Billboard Is Brought Down By The Weight Of The Snow
Image source: Associated Press/AP Photo
#10 New York – Madison at Fiftieth
#11 Snow Has Covered The Windows Of This Shop In Manhattan
Image source: Bettmann/CORBIS
#12 Snow And Ice Taken From The City Is Dumped Into The East River, New York
Image source: Buyenlarge/Getty Images
#13 Workers Dig Out The Snow From Underneath An Elevated Train Line After The Blizzard
Image source: Bettmann/CORBIS
#14 Corner Of Broad And Market Streets, Newark
Image source: Newark Public Library
#15 Employees Of TP Howell & Co., Newark
Image source: Newark Public Library
#16 Work Crew In Front Of Hotel Pennsylvania In New York City
Image source: New York Historical Society
#17 Grand Opera House Under A Blanket Of Snow, Brooklyn
Image source: Wallace G. Levison/the Life picture collection/Getty images
#18 14th Street, New York City, Just After The Storm
Image source: Langill
#19 People Struggling On Their Daily Commute, Downtown New York
Image source: Life picture collection/Getty
#20 Workers Remove Snow In Times Square
#21 A Women On A Brownstone-Lined Street Sweeps The Sidewalk Near Where Two Horse-Drawn Buggies Are Parked In Brooklyn
Image source: Getty Images
#22 Corner Of High And Court Streets, Newark
Image source: Newark Public Library
#23 Pedestrians Involved In Snow Removal Operations
Image source: Bettmann/CORBIS
#24 Brooklyn During The White Hurricane
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
#25 New Yorkers Hiking Across The Brooklyn Bridge After Being Forced To Leave Their Train
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