As Westport battens down for our 792nd snowstorm of the winter — and we check our batteries, rock salt and (of course) milk, bread and eggs –let’s remember that this is New England, and sometimes we get bad weather.
Town art curator Kathie Bennewitz plowed through the Westport Historical Society archives, and dug up 3 shots from over a century ago.
This one, from 1890, shows the “State Street [Post Road] bridge looking west during a snow storm.” Taken from near the current site of Starbucks, facing Norwalk, it shows National Hall on the right. Note the overturned carriage (or structure) in the middle of the bridge.
This shot, from the early 1900s, shows an ice jam “south of State Street” (same bridge). That sure is a ton of ice. And check out the trolley car on the bridge.
Finally, here’s a circa-1900 photo of the “swing bridge” — the Bridge Street bridge? Looks like a lot of people came out to see the frozen Saugatuck River.
