The caption for this photo, giving us a glimpse of the aftermath of a huge city snowstorm in 1899, doesn’t tell us what corner we’re looking at. But it does show something interesting.
“Special snow plow vehicle plowing during the Blizzard of 1899,” it reads. For years, of course, the city got rid of snow by packing it in carts drawn by horses. This looks like an early version of a motorized snow plow.
It’s from the wonderful photo collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
Tags: Blizzard of 1899 New York City, first snowplow on the streets, New York City snow removal, New York in the 1890s, NYC blizzards, worst blizzards of New York City
Ephemeral New York 
January 26, 2015 at 10:11 am |
Love old photos and glad museums etc preserve them for future generations. Look forward to seeing more. Thks
January 26, 2015 at 11:37 am |
That type of plow was developed to clear streetcar tracks.
January 26, 2015 at 4:51 pm |
Thanks Joe, I think I see the tracks there. More efficient than horses!I wonder what it sounded like.
January 26, 2015 at 7:17 pm |
Fill a cart, haul it somewhere, return, fill it up again… That must have taken forever.
January 30, 2015 at 3:03 pm |
[…] 2. Speaking of old stuff… New York’s first motorized snowplow? […]