Disasters in Connecticut

The Blizzard of 1888, also known as the "Great White Hurricane," lasted for three days, from March 12-14. The blizzard buried an unprepared Northeast in up to 50 inches of snow. The precipitation was accompanied by winds reaching 60 mph that piled snow drifts up to 38 feet tall. Horse cars, stagecoaches, and trains came to a halt, making the delivery of food and fuel difficult. Most communication by telegraph was disrupted by downed lines across the region and cities like New York, Boston, and Hartford were unaware of events around them. The blizzard left more than 400 people dead and caused upwards of 20 million dollars worth of property damage. The resulting cleanup effort was accomplished by plows drawn by horses and oxen or more often by shovel. This collection consists of 72 photographs taken of Hartford and its immediate surroundings both during and after the blizzard. The photographs are almost exclusively albumen prints taken by photographers E.P. Kellogg, R.C. Buell, William B. Lloyd, and William H. Lockwood. Lockwood compiled 37 photographs into a book entitled, "The Great Snow Storm," which he donated to the Connecticut State Library in 1916. Addresses for buildings and businesses were obtained from the Sanborn Insurance Maps of Hartford, 1885 and the Geer's Hartford City Directory, 1888. Addresses from 1888 may not corroborate with matching addresses today as street names and numbers in Hartford have changed. For example, The Wadsworth Antheneum was located at 206 Main Street in 1888, the number has since changed to 600 Main Street.

Library of Congress (LOC) research guide: "For three days in March of 1988, over three feet of snow fell from Delaware to Montreal. This guide provides information on researching the topic of "The Great Blizzard of 1888" in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers"
CT State Library's newspaper collection will also include articles about the Blizzard of 1888.