Great White Hurricane of 1888

     The residents of Bethlehem woke up on March 12, 1888 to find the “Great White Hurricane” at their doors. They may have seen more snow in previous storms, but the combination of the 20-foot snowdrifts, the 50 miles per hour winds and zero degree temperature made for one of the worst blizzards in U.S. history. Bethlehem was completely cut off from her neighbors. The telegraph, telephone and electrical wires were down and could not be repaired because of the dangerous winds. A repairman attempted to climb a forty-foot telegraph pole, on Market Street, only to be blown off the pole as he reached the top. Fortunately he was able to grab a hold of a pin, embedded in the pole, and was soon rescued by his fellow workers. The downed wires meant no communication in or out of town and no electric lights.  Hugh snow drifts closed railroad tracks and roads. Transportation by trolleys, wagons and horses was also not possible due to weather conditions. One could not walk more than a few feet because of the snowdrifts, stinging cold winds and fear of frostbite. The wind shook the houses of Bethlehem for two days. The streets were deserted and all business stopped. Trains that usually brought mail, newspapers, or passengers did not arrive in Bethlehem. Travelers planning to leave town had to stay put. The Eagle Hotel was filled with travelers waiting to leave. Trains were stuck and isolated on tracks in the surrounding country. Conductors learned the hard way that attempts to force the trains through the drifts resulted in derailments. Most farmers could not make it into town to sell their milk and produce. Customers in a panic to buy up supplies met the one or two who did make into town.

     C.H. Linderman’s experience was typical of those who were traveling by train during the storm. Linderman, accompanied by his daughter, was traveling by train to Bethlehem from Reading. Their train only made it as far as Lyon’s Station where it remained snow bound for 17 hours. Lindermen and the rest of the passengers on the train were without food or heat, while they waited to be rescued. The train swayed back and forth as the winds swirled around it. The passengers could do nothing but watch the snow pile up higher than the train windows.

     It wasn’t until five days later that train tracks and the main roads were finally opened. The only method of removing snow was by manpower with picks and shovels. The Lehigh and Lackawanna Railroad and the Pennsylvania and Reading Railroad hired hundreds of men to dig out its snow bound trains. Even as trains were beginning to run to and from Bethlehem, many roads were still closed. Center Street, north of Geopp and Monocacy Street, north of Fairview, were impassable. A mile long, ten-foot drift closed Freemansburg Road. Fourteen-foot drifts were reported on Easton, Bath, Nazareth, and Catasauqua Roads. During the storm, firemen worried about fires igniting from the downed electrical wires. If a fire occurred they were helpless to put it out as neither man nor horse could tolerate the weather. Also the water supply was frozen. It was very fortunate that no fires were reported in Bethlehem.

     Other cities did not fare as well as Bethlehem during the “Great White Hurricane.” The East Coast, from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine, suffered fire damage of $25 million dollars worth of property. Four hundred people were killed, two hundred in New York City, alone. Two hundred ships were lost at sea. In Connecticut and central Massachusetts, 50 inches of snow fell as the winds piled up 50-foot drifts.

     The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as a storm with winds of more than 35 miles an hour and snow that limits visibility to 500 feet or less. A severe blizzard is defined as having winds exceeding 45 miles an hour, visibility of a quarter mile or less, and temperatures of 10 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. This was a severe blizzard.

     Early in the morning of March 11th, a fierce hurricane developed in the Gulf Stream along the west coast of Florida. The hurricane moved north up the east coast and was met by an area of high pressure traveling south from Newfoundland. The two weather systems collided and stalled for almost two days, west of Nantucket Island. Although the U.S. Congress created the National Weather Service in 1870, it wasn’t until weather satellites were launched in the 1960s-70s that we could depend upon accurate warnings of storms. The few days before the 1888 storm were mild and the citizens of Bethlehem were probably thinking of the early arrival of warm spring days. No one could imagine that a devastating blizzard was coming his or her way.

     As the northeast recovered from the “Great White Hurricane” citizens called for more efficient methods of dealing with snow removal. Cities began burying communication wires underground. Boston and New York created subways. Snow removal became a well-planned effort as soon as the first snowflakes fell.

Slow Down to Enjoy Freemansburg

Canal manager's home.

 

Jacob Freeman (1792-1871) was described as a well-liked and respected citizen of the quaint small town where he lived. He served the town as the coroner and justice of the peace. He would expound upon the virtues of his hometown to anyone who would listen. That is if he wasn’t busy with his favorite pursuit of hunting game. His neighbors showed their appreciation for this town booster, by naming the town after him in1830. Jacob’s grandfather, Edward Freeman, had purchased the land, in 1790, where Freemansburg would eventually be established. Jacob was able to sell off several of his lots when the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company completed the 1.5-mile section of the canal, a lock tender’s house, mule barn and Locks No.43 and 44 in the autumn of 1829. Lock No. 43 is now within the city limits of Bethlehem. A few other European settlers had arrived to settle the area before the Freemans. John Nance was considered the first settler. He opened a gristmill, known as Nance’s Mill. Nancy Run, a stream that runs into the Lehigh River at the north end of town, was named for him. Freemansburg was originally called “Nance’s Mills.” Peter Bachman, another early settler, built his home and tavern at the west end of town, in 1760. The tavern was known as Willow Grove. It was the first stone home built in this area. Legend has it that some of the local Leni Lenape shot arrows at the stone masons, from the south side of the Lehigh River. They hoped to delay the building of the home. A Bethlehem Moravian, George Huber, in the early 1760s, built a sawmill and distillery at the northern end of Freemansburg. In 1817, George Butz built his gristmill on Nancy Run.
Before the construction of a temporary wooden bridge at Freemansburg, the only way to travel across the Lehigh River was by Currie’s Ferry. Lawyer, John Currie, who lived in Shimersville, which was located across the river from Freemansburg, had erected the service. Henry Jarrett built the first temporary bridge in 1816. The bridge only lasted until 1825; when the unfortunate Daniel Schnable, with a four-horse team and loaded wagon, found the bridge could not support him. He and his horses crashed through the structure and fell into the Lehigh. Schnable and his horses survived the fall. Three more bridges followed; a covered bridge made of wood (1826), a bridge made of steel (1896) and finally the modern cement bridge (1990) we use today.
Freemansburg owed its rapid development to the canal built by Josiah White and Erskine Hazard. The majority of the canal boats floating by Freemansburg carried coal; however a few hauled logs, grain, vegetables, and limestone. It wasn’t unusual for the boatmen or “canallers” to live with their families on the boats. They often docked in Freemansburg to trade a bucket of coal for a chicken, eggs or milk. If a bank dweller was without the funds to pay for coal, they were known to set up bottles along the bank. The boatman would play the game and throw coal at the bottles. This coal would be gathered by the bank dweller to keep his family warm.
During the 1830s, Jacob Freeman built the second tavern of the town, known as the Freemansburg Hotel. The structure was described as extravagant. Thomas & Bellows opened a general store in 1831. Three more stores came in the next few years, Leeser’s, Jacob Ginsinger and P.S. Bachman. Three boatyards were built by G.&A. Bachman, Warg & Luckenbach and A. Cortright. The boat yards employed over a hundred people and produced as many as one hundred boats per year.

By 1850 there were one hundred dwelling in Freemansburg. The population boom necessitated the building of a school in 1856 as well as the town’s incorporation as a borough on January 24, 1856. The heyday of the canal came to an end as the Central New Jersey Railroad came through the area in 1860. Some of the graves in the Lutheran Reformed Church Cemetery had to be moved to make way for the tracks. The trains stopped in Freemansburg for industry and passengers. Because of the increasing popularity of cars, buses and trucks, the Freemansburg passenger station was demolished in 1966 and all rail service had stopped by 1989.

Freemansburg attracted other important industries. Bachman and Clewell established the Lehigh Valley Manufacturing Company in 1867. Their company made soap and candles. The Northampton Iron Co. built the Northampton Furnace in 1872 for the production of pig iron. William Shimer & Son Co. from 1875 to 1895 operated a cast iron toy manufacturing company. These cast-iron toy banks, trains and canons are highly collectible today.

In 1901, Lehigh Valley Traction Co. offered trolley service between Freemansburg and South Bethlehem, making the borough a favorite bedroom community for Bethlehem Steel employees. Charles Derr, Vice-President of Freemansburg Borough Council, headed the Old Freemansburg Association. In the late 1990’s they restored the 1.5 miles of canal towpath, lock tender’s house, mule barn and Lock 44. The borough owns and maintains the entire historic property. It is a favorite destination for walkers, runners and bicyclists.