This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
Snow
Storms
1881 and
1898 and 1947
1881
03 1881
National Hotel (Lindon
House), Main and Water
Hacketts Marble Works and St. Bernard’s in
distance
At the end of the first week of
March of 1881, Mother Nature closed down the city and isolated it from the
outside world by favoring Watertown with an accumulation of over 6 feet of
snow. Trenches were dug to navigate
one’s way around town and trains were stalled.
Cross-References:
The Watertown Historical Society has
a number of images of the 1881 snow storm
No 1:
Flood, 1881,
No 2:
Flood, 1881,
1898
02 23 1898
Saturday and Sunday Watertown was
enveloped in by all odds the worst snow storm that has visited us since the
memorable one of March, 1881, which continued four days. The storm was quite
general throughout the Northwest. It
played havoc with the railway service for the time being, reports showing that
there was a genuine blockade which was with difficulty broken up. Very few
people ventured from their homes here on Sunday.
1947
01 30 1947
The storm was listed as being the
worst one since 1910 with drifts throughout the city several feet in height and
conditions much worse in the rural areas. In less than a 24-hour period over 17
inches of snow fell. WHS_005_543
