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EHS The Magazine
Weathering the Snow King Blizzard of 1899
Hit by the historic “Snow King” blizzard of 1899, Episcopal’s students and faculty endured more than 40 inches of snow, drifts several feet high, single-digit temperatures, wind speeds in excess of 35 miles an hour (35 mph gusting to 48 mph), no water due to frozen pipes, and interrupted deliveries.
In typical Episcopal fashion, the students and faculty persevered through the historic 1899 snow storm with minimal interruption to the School routine. The only documented disruption of schedule was delayed breakfast service on the morning of Feb. 14, because no water was available for cooking.
Winter continued into March with a late-season snow that tested the spirits of students and faculty alike. Of that storm, a writer for The E.H.S. Chronicle recounted: “We sat around the society stoves, with cold air playing scales on our blackboards, a morose and mournful crowd, trying to picture ourselves in a temperature of 100° in the shade, lolling under the old walnut playing mumble the peg. We have just gotten ourselves up to the point where all present ills are forgotten, when a gust of wind stronger than the last rattles the panes and causes us to wonder whether life is worth living at all. However, with characteristic High School spirit, we began all again.” – March 15, 1899 edition of The E.H.S. Chronicle
“The weather simply fearful – much the worst yet! Drifts and driving as is very rarely seen. Snow piled a foot high inside the parlour window on the NW side. House passage from front to rear ½ in deep snow … No sending to town, no mail dispatched or received. Dining room at supper barely hospitable … No vehicle has arrived or departed today.” – Headmaster Launcelot Blackford Diaries Feb. 13, 1899
“We are just through the great storm, a stress of weather which will be talked about probably for a century to come. Monday was our worst day and that was simply terrific. Happily we had food, fuel enough, but could not escape the penalty of modern improvements i.e. the freezing of steam and water pipes and the consequences, discomfort and oppression.” – February 19, 1899 letter to Launcelot Blackord’s sister
