The storm that swallowed Gotham
A look back at one of the worst blizzards in American history


The national illustrated newspaper Frank Leslie's Illustrated reports on "the great storm" in New York City.
(Library of Congress)On March 10, 1888, the weather in the Northeast was fair and in the 50s, more indicative of the spring to come than of the winter season almost passed. A storm heading ea

New Yorkers hike across the Brooklyn Bridge after being forced to leave their stalled train.
(AP Photo/Arthur H. Fisher)Seventy-five miles of the Long Island Railroad system was blocked for more than a week. New York's elevated trains were abandoned on ice-slicked rails. In the early

Keene, New Hampshire.
(PNHF Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)

45th Street and Grand Central Depot, New York City.
(NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) Collection)

Near the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
(Library of Congress)

A broken grocery story awning in New York City.
(AP Photo)

Men open pathways between Chesterfield and West Swanzey, New Hampshire.
(PNHF Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)

A boy leans against a snow drift in New York City.
(NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) Collection)

Keene, New Hampshire.
(PNHF Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)

Greenwich Village, New York.
(NOAA/Richard B. Levine)

Keene, New Hampshire.
(PNHF Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)