Snow Then and Now: Old Photos from The Blizzard of 1978

If you think it snowed a lot in 2015, here are a few images of Easton during the Blizzard of 1978 courtesy of Easton Police Chief Allen Krajcik:

Center Street:

Main Street

Oakes Ames Hall

The Blizzard of 1978 was included in the Patch article “7 of the Worst Blizzards in U.S. History.”

In case you weren’t alive during the storm, or need a memory jog:

During the Blizzard of 1978, Northeastern residents shrugged off predictions of a big snow when just a few weeks before a forecast that called only for rain dumped 21 inches of snow on Boston. So, when snow began on Feb. 5, residents went to work and school as normal. Once the blizzard arrived with hurricane-strength winds and whiteout conditions, highways were filled with abandoned and buried cars.

In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, residents went without heat, water or electricity for more than a week, says History.com. An estimated 100 people died.

The website The Blizzard of ‘78 describes the fear of drivers trapped – in a pre-cell phone era – on the roads: “The wind began to howl upwards of 70 miles per hour in the Boston area. … Each motorist soon faced a choice: Try to flee through a screaming blizzard to some unknown safety or stay and nurse the gas waiting for rescue as snow piled around the car. Many New Englanders would end up spending days in those automobiles and a few would not make it out alive.”

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