Big Snow Banks Deposited in 1898

SeacoastNH.com Presents
Historic Portsmouth #345

History repeats itself courtesy of Father Time and, in this case, with thanks to Mother Nature. On January 31, 1898 residents of Portsmouth found themselves buried in snow. Kids then, as kids now, were elated. We can barely see two of them hiding behind the snow banks, clearly posed by photographer Lafayette V. Newell. (Continued below)

Newell kept a studio downtown and documented much of the city’s history in the second half of the 19^th century. Years earlier, in 1866, Newell had documented an historic ice storm that briefly turned the city into a crystal palace. But in 1898, as in recent weeks, it was all about the height of the snow banks as seen in Newell’s souvenir picture of Pleasant Street. The deluge, however, did not come close to the New Hampshire annual record of 122 inches of white stuff in the winter of 1873-74. This is the second in our February series of snow pictures from Portsmouth’s past. (Courtesy of the Portsmouth Athenaeum)

BONUS CLOSE-UP