blizzards

Adapted from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC): All About Snow/Snow Removal. Accessed November 20, 2019. Originally published as “Have snow shovel, will travel,” in 1997 by Laura Cheshire. Ever wonder how modern day snow plowing came to be? Interestingly, the first attempts at snow management were not about snow removal, but about compaction. Snow would be flattened for sleigh traffic by “using heavy logs chained under sleds, or large weighted rollers pulled or pushed by oxen or horses,” according to a 2016 article in the Bangor Daily News. Donald Sargent’s Union Iron Works in Bangor, ME, which opened in 1827, produced the Sargent snow roller, a large wooden barrel that would essentially compress the snow into a level surface. Ordinances in many cities required homeowners to clear their sidewalks, but snow removal was not yet practiced on a citywide basis. Residents and merchants were responsible for clearing their own streets so they frequently hired snow shovelers. As a result, wintertime travel in early 1800s was still mostly by foot. Enterprising inventors were issued the first patents for snowplows in the 1840s, but several years passed before the plow designs were put to use. One of the first mentions of snowplow use comes from Milwaukee in 1862. The plow was attached to a cart pulled by a team of horses through the snow-clogged streets. Over the next several years, horse-drawn plows gained popularity and came into use in many other Northeastern cities. Intercity steam trains also made their ...