February 09, 2017
City of Philadelphia, Department of Records/PhillyHistory.org
Men load snow into the bed of a truck.
Dread shoveling your car out of its parking spot? At least you're not stuck with the more monumental task of digging out the entire city.
The region received its first significant winter storm Thursday, with some northern suburbs seeing as much as 8 inches of snow.
And while it's certainly not the 20-plus inches Philadelphia saw just last January, the 30 inches of snow in 1996 or even the 19 inches that fell in April 1915 – it was enough white stuff to send snow-removal crews across the region scrambling into action.
While there have been technological improvements, the snowplowing process in the city largely remains the same as ever – push it into piles, scoop it into a truck and haul it away.
With the help of the archives of PhillyHistory.org, we did some digging of our own through old photos of snow and snow removal across Philadelphia from 1914 through 1961, when a snowplow cost the city about $61,000 and drove at 30 miles per hour, according to the history site.
Department of Records/PhillyHistory.orgMen shoveling snow at Independence Hall.
Department of Records/PhillyHistory.orgPeople traveling through snow.
City of Philadelphia, Department of Records/PhillyHistory.org Men load snow into the bed of a truck.
City of Philadelphia, Department of Records/PhillyHistory.org Snow is cleared close to City Hall.
Office of the City Representative/PhillyHistory.org A man watches snow as it's piled into the bed of a snow-removal truck.
City of Philadelphia, Department of Records/PhillyHistory.org Snow-removal equipment stored in Center City.
Department of Records/PhillyHistory.org A snow truck plows through several feet of snow.
Office of the City Representative/PhillyHistory.orgA man operates a snowplow in front of what is now an office space for Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.
City of Philadelphia, Department of Records/PhillyHistory.org A plow truck dumps snow off the Schuylkill River Bridge.
City of Philadelphia, Department of Records/John McWhorter, PhillyHistory.orgMen removing snow with plow trucks.
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceDRPA plow trucks coat the Benjamin Franklin Bridge deck and plaza roadway near Franklin Square with salt on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017.
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceA National Park Service employee clears a walkway on Independence Mall in Old City on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017.
