As the anniversary approaches, several viewers are sharing their stories of a record-breaking storm that dropped 50 inches of snow on parts of the Pennsylvania region back in 1958.
Read some of the stories below:
Joe Scheider
Thinking back due to the new storm arriving here tomorrow. I was 12 years old then living in Birdsboro, Pa area at that time. I remember being in school; when it started thinking it wouldn't be much. As we now know, it was big. We were basically snow IN for almost a week. Snow removal was not quite the same back then. No electric due to down power lines, so no power to run the well pump. The next farm up has a spring that I could walk to for water. we had a gas stove so we were in luck with that. Also so made it possible for me to make some candles everyday from the wax left over from the night before. It was just a lot different back then when it came to snow.
Michele Leary Baird
In 1958 I was 11 yrs. old and lived with my family on Chetwynd Circle in Paoli. I recall two snow storms late in March that year, but I don't remember which storm came first.
One storm was about 36" and school was closed for 3 days. The neighborhood kids had a great time sledding and making snowmen & snow caves... I recall the mothers on Cobblestone Drive coming out of their homes to tell the plow truck drivers not to drop any cinders on the big hill so all the kids could go sledding.
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The other big snow storm that March was not as deep, maybe 18". The snow was very light/dry and the temperature stayed extremely cold for days. The winds were also strong for days; as soon as a road was opened up it would be closed again as the snow blew and drifted. We missed a week of school for this storm. I remember playing a lot of canasta with my girlfriend. We fortunately didn't lose power during either of these snow storms.
Peg Kidon
My husband and I were in the area at the time of this storm. He, being 13 years old, lived in North Coventry Township, Chester County, and I lived in Montgomery County in Lower Pottsgrove Township, both outside of Pottstown. He has told me stories of how he and his neighbors shoveled their road (E. Cedarville Rd.) all the way out to Hanover St. His family had coal, heat and a gas stove, so they had warmth and food. When it was possible to travel, many of his relatives came to stay at their house where it was warm, and there was food.
I, being 11 years old, recall living for a week with my other five family members in our teeny, tiny den where there was a fireplace which worked poorly, and smoke would back up into the room. My father would cook food for us on the back porch on a Sterno burner. The only time we would leave the room was to sleep at night under my daddy's heavy army blankets in our freezing upstairs bedrooms.
Bill Barlow
I lived in Downingtown, Pennsylvania and I remember that it was a heavy, wet snow. Downingtown lost power for several days. Emergency shelters were set up in the Downingtown Methodist Church and the Alert fire company. One of the problems that occurred in the community is that several residents tried to cook on charcoal grills inside their homes.
The word got out and the local Boy Scout Troops banded together and went door to door to tell residents that they were not allowed by order of the borough council. I remember my father trying to make a pot of coffee using a propane torch to heat the pot. Back in the 1950's there were no automatic coffee makers. I also believe school was closed for a week.
What I disliked the most was having to go to bed at 7:30 because with no power the whole house was dark and cold. We survived by throwing extra blankets on the bed. Downingtown is 30 miles west of Philadelphia and if I'm correct, Philadelphia got very little snow.
Kent Foster
I lived on Richard Road right off Valley Forge Park. We had no electricity for five days. My father tried to heat one room using charcoal and almost got us all sick. My brother got the worst of it. I remember when Channel 10 had a western town behind their building where the parking lot is now. Does anyone remember that? We were the first of the new homes on Richard Road. We needed a bulldozer to push the snow from our driveway which also tore up the driveway.
Clayton Owen
As I recall as I was 8 years-old and living in the suburbs of Malvern at the time. My father had a helicopter drop off a generator and some supplies off at our farm as we had been out of electricity for a number of days as he was the Commander of 111th Pa. Air National Guard stationed at the Philadelphia Airport. I believe that helicopter pictured was from his Air Guard.
Donnie Solinger
It seems to me we had two March snowstorms back to back in 1958 that were 19 inches each here in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Hildegard Lindstrom
I was living in Berwyn on a big estate in a house dating back to the late 1700's. I was in the 7th grade at Tredyffrin/Easttown Junior High School. We were fortunate enough to have bottled gas for our stove. We buried the food that needed to be refrigerated in the deep snow, melted snow for washing dishes or hands and tapped the hot water heater for drinking water. We were fortunate enough to have several large fireplaces in the house and plenty of wood so we kept warm. We were without power for almost a week as I recall and I know we were much luckier than some that lived in the newer homes.
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