The Blizzard of 1888 --- and cleared by hand!
By Bill Pearsall,
Putnam Municipal Historian
When I set up my office as the Municipal Historian for the Town of Putnam in the new Municipal Complex, I had three large pictures hung on the wall. Two of the pictures were from the 1800s. One was of the town near where the Putnam Hotel used to be and shows the aftermath of a huge snow storm in 1888.
I did some research from the Aspinock Historical Society’s archives and found some articles in the Putnam Patriot Newspaper from 1888 about this storm. The paper related that it had been a very cold winter that year and everyone was looking forward to spring arriving soon. A huge storm had developed from out of Utah and moved across the country.
The storm reached New York City and then moved up the coast.
In town, the snow piled up very fast and very deep. The town selectmen dispensed crews to clear the streets. Since it was spring time, the town was transitioning cleanup of the streets from the needs of sleighs to wagons. After this storm, people continued to use their sleighs so the crews went back to winter procedures and shoveled the snow from the sidewalks to the streets to accommodate the sleighs a little longer and allowing citizens to get around town easily.
During that time, there were two railroads that came from New York heading to Boston. Both these lines intersected here in Putnam. As the storm developed, the trains became bogged down and stranded in the snow. Passengers were basically trapped in the trains without heat or food. The depth of the snow and gale force winds of this storm made huge drifts on the tracks. So the tracks had to be shoveled by hand.
I find it amusing that these days we get impatient when the snowplow doesn’t clear out the snow by our house or street in what we consider a timely manner. Imagine what it would be like to have to shovel the road by hand to go anywhere.
Aspinock Memories graces the pages of the Putnam Town Crier to keep Putnam’s history alive.
Pomfret Bulky Waste Station Sets Schedule
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
POMFRET — The new Bulky Waste Station on Nora Lane is in operation and it is going smoothly, according to First Selectman Maureen Nicholson. And now it has a Pomfret schedule in place.
In April Pomfret will start its first full season with the new station. The schedule is from 8 a.m. to noon Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5. Nicholson said the collection is free to Pomfret residents and will be open to Pomfret residents on the first weekend of each month through fall. In July and August, it will be open the first Saturday only.
This schedule is about double what the schedule was at the old transfer station. She said they may discover that they don’t need to be open both Fridays and Saturdays.
In addition, she said the town is working on a Household Hazardous Waste collection there, probably in November. It would be for the towns of Pomfret, Woodstock and Brooklyn.
As far as the Bulky Waste Station, the attendant’s shed has arrived and they are deciding where to put it. The attendant would be checking IDs. Directional arrows, etc. will be painted on the paved surface. The town of Putnam handled the paving last fall.
Nicholson said Pomfret and Putnam officials have not met lately to finish work on the memorandum of understanding. It will formalize Putnam’s use of the Pomfret station. Part of the memorandum would cover the schedules. A few weeks ago, Putnam hosted its first bulky waste collection day there and it went well.
Still to come is a composter and electricity. Pomfret is a proponent of recycling and a “share shed” is also a distinct possibility.
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Bright and Shiny
These crocus are just one of the varieties of flowers --- and spring activities --- blooming this time of year. Expanded photo array Wed. night on our FB page: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger. More photos on page 4. Linda Lemmon photo.
A ‘sign’ of renewal at the cemetery
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — It was nearly two years in the making but the “vision” to replace the signposts inside the Grove Street Cemetery is nearly finished.
Some members of the Putnam Cemetery Association, which includes the Grove Street Cemetery, the Putnam Heights Cemetery and the cemetery on River Road, had the vision to do something about the nearly 100-year-old signposts in the Grove Street Cemetery.
Jim Shaw, superintendent, said it took nearly two years of research and fund-raising, to replace the 25 sign posts and signs. They help visitors find their way.
“Greg King was one of the members who had the vision to update the signposts,” Shaw said. Valentine Imamartino, association vice president, “ran with the idea,” he added.
Imamartino said the years had not been kind to the signposts that had probably been there, in Shaw’s estimation, since the 1930s. Many were missing; others were deteriorated, rotted, rusted out. “I wanted it to be done right — so that these signposts go another 100 years,” she said.
She found an architectural sign business with its own foundry in Pennsylvania for the new signs. The old signs were “somewhat black” with white lettering on them. The new ones are cast aluminum, powder coated with dark green with white lettering.
Shaw said by the time the signs arrived last year, it was too late to install them, weather-wise.
She said King and Shaw were a huge help in getting the layout squared away. Some of the roads in the cemetery were changed or added, and there were questions on where the crossroads were. King and Shaw worked out where the signposts would go.
Andy Tetreault Lawn Service of Sterling has done a good bit of excavation and stone work at the cemetery. He pulled out all the old signposts and cemented the new posts into the ground. Jesse Peterson, groundskeeper, installed the tops, making sure they were straight, straight, straight. Some of the signs are doubles and some are singles. He said, weather permitting, it shouldn’t take long to finish the installation.
The total cost of the project, including installation is about $15,000, Imamartino said.
Because perpetual care fees scarcely cover maintenance, Imamartino said the association is looking for sponsors for the signs. She said several board members and community members have already sponsored a sign but more sponsors are needed.
If you are interested in sponsoring one of the signposts for $300, call or text Imamartino at: 860-428-1290. In addition, the association is selling the classic old signposts.
She said she hopes this is the start of more updates at the cemetery. Other markers and perhaps a large sign at the corner of Grove Street and Killingly Avenue are possibilities.
caption, page 1: At Work
Jesse Peterson attaches the sign on top of the signpost at the Grove Street Cemetery. More photos on page 4. Linda Lemmon photo.
captions, page 4: New Sign Posts
Clockwise from top left. An overview of Grove Street Cemetery with one of the new signposts installed. The old signs are available for purchase. Call or text Valentine Imamartino at 860-428-1290. Andy Tetreault of Tetreault Landscaping and helper Jason McLevy installing the sign posts. All page 4 photos courtesy of Valentine Imamartino.