(above) Photograph of Rahway Train Station a few days after the storm shows work had been done to clear the tracks. The blizzard shut down rail traffic to New York City from Monday morning until Wednesday morning.
The Blizzard of 1888
Submitted by Al Shipley, City Historian and Rahway Library Research Consultant
December is upon us and folks can already be heard prognosticating the amount of snow that might be heading our way as we brace for another winter season. There have certainly been some brutal storms in recent years. In fact, in 2016, just three years ago, a monster storm deposited 26.9 inches of snow on the area. The New Jersey Office of Climatology at Rutgers University considered it the worst storm to hit New Jersey since they began recording such data in 1931. The record setting storm of 2016, however, pales dramatically when compared to the Blizzard of 1888 which dropped a total of four feet of the white stuff in Rahway and as much as fifty-eight inches in some parts of N.J., making it the worst blizzard in the history of the state.
The Great Blizzard of 1888, often referred to as the Great White Hurricane, paralyzed the east coast from the Chesapeake Bay all the way to Maine. Along with the massive snowfall totals, powerful winds, averaging 40-50 mph, produced drifts reported to have been in excess of twenty feet, completely suspending highway, river, and railroad travel for days. Temperatures fell to 6 degrees Fahrenheit. Telegraph lines were disabled and fire stations were immobilized. More than 400 died as a result of the storm and the frigid days that followed. Fortunately, no storm related deaths were reported in Rahway.
The storm began on Sunday afternoon, March 11, with light rain showers. By evening the rain had increased in severity and by mid-night, temperatures had plummeted changing the precipitation to snow. When citizens awoke on Monday morning and peered out their windows, they must have been amazed at the amount of snow on the ground and the giant wind-swept drifts. To make matters worse, the blizzard would continue throughout the rest of the day.
As bad as conditions were, there were those who thought the storm would subside or that they could overcome adversity and go on with their regular routines. A number of conscientious commuters made their way to Rahway Station to catch the early trains. The 5:30 and 6:05 trains started their run from the Rahway depot so they were set to leave on time. Both left on schedule and somehow managed to slowly plow their way on the eastbound tracks. The 5:30 train did make it to New York although the trip took over six hours. As conditions worsened, it took the second train five hours just to reach Newark where it was shut down. Passengers ended up storm bound in Elizabeth, Newark, and New York City where they were stranded for several days. Many camped out in hotel lobbies while others remained in the freezing cold and wet depot rooms and because telegraph lines were down, had no way to inform families of their plight. One dedicated teacher boarded the 6:05 train with hopes of reaching the east Linden schoolhouse where she was employed. She reached the school but ended up being “imprisoned” alone in the building through Monday night as it was impossible for her relatives to bring her home.
No train would pass through Rahway in either direction from Monday morning until 5:00 Tuesday afternoon. The first train out of New York City arrived at 9:30 on Wednesday morning bringing with it the sorely missed New York newspapers and the first mail since Saturday.
The storm also affected those who remained in Rahway. Several homeowners opened their homes and welcomed out-of-towners who were stranded in the city. On Sunday afternoon, a local doctor was called to a home in the neighborhood near the waterworks plant to deliver a baby and was not able to leave the snowbound residence until Tuesday. The baby was born early Monday as the blizzard raged. It was a girl. Several other babies were born during the storm and in the days that followed. All were girls.
The fierce winds snapped the stately Liberty Pole which marked the spot on the corner of Milton Avenue and St. Georges Avenue where Rahway’s Liberty Tree stood during the Revolutionary War. It fell across Maple Avenue bringing down the electric wires. A baker whose shop was on Main Street tried to make deliveries Monday morning but got stalled and had to abandon his wagon on Grand Avenue. A well-known bachelor of the city lost one of his dogs and was said to be seen struggling through the teeth of the storm trying to find it. Another family had called their dog to come in for the night on Sunday, but the pet did not return to the safety of the home. It was not until Thursday when the worried owners heard a sound coming from under a drift covered seed shed that the dog was reunited with the family.
Public schools were closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Bloodgoods Mill, a factory on the Rahway-Clark border which employed many Rahway workers, was unable to open until paths could be made to that remote part of town. Two funeral services had to be postponed to the end of the week. Parked on Scott Avenue, fire engine #474 was covered by eight feet of snow. Even a week after the blizzard, roads were still in such rough shape that it was difficult for fire engines to respond to a house fire on Jaques Avenue. It wasn’t until Wednesday that a milkman was able to make deliveries, but had to resort to using a team of oxen instead of horses to make his way around town.
The conductor and crew of the 5:30 train that left Rahway Station on Monday morning finally made it back to Rahway on Wednesday around 4 p.m.
Local photographer, James Stacy was out much of Tuesday and Wednesday taking many photos of the storm in various parts of the city showing the immensity of the drifts, the blocked up streets, etc. Demand for copies from his collection was great and could be ordered at fifty cents for any scene desired. Unfortunately, none of his images have ever been part of this researcher’s collection.
Everything eventually returned to normal, but the stories that were told in the aftermath of the storm and passed on to following generations ensured that the Blizzard of 1888 would always be remembered as the worst in the history of Rahway.
