March 12, 1888: The two-day, Great Blizzard of 1888, also known as the “Great White Hurricane,” locks up the East Coast from Chesapeake Bay to Maine, resulting in more than 400 deaths, including about 100 sailors.
The storm drops 22 inches of snow in New York City, but heavy wind forms snowdrifts that are dozens of feet deep. About 15,000 people become stranded on elevated trains. Much heavier snowfall is recorded in southern New England and upstate New York.
In Sanford, Maine, the snowfall is about 26 inches, local author Edwin Emery wrote at the time.
The storm, which causes more than $20 million in damage in New York City alone, helps convince some public officials of the value of placing electrical and telegraph lines and big-city public transit underground.
Joseph Owen is a retired copy desk chief of the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal and board member of the Kennebec Historical Society. He can be contacted at: jowen@mainetoday.com.
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