Then & Now: A Snowy 200 Block on S. Main

Then – A Snowy Mess on Main Street

On Sunday, January 3, 1897, Aberdeen began to be pelted with a blizzard that would become the worst recorded in the new town. On Tuesday, January 5, the Aberdeen Daily News reported, “The west side of Main street appeared to be a mountain chain of snow and glacier.” Trains were stopped, newspapers stopped, and people essentially didn’t go out for 48 hours. This view was probably taken from the second-floor balcony of the Sherman House located at the corner of 3^rd Avenue and Main Street, looking northwest. There are at least three distinct buildings from this 1897 view still standing today. They are 212 S. Main (Sammy’s Restaurant, formerly Plymouth Clothing), 206 S. Main (Studio 9 Salon, formerly Huffman’s), and 126 S. Main (Habitat for Humanity Store). Others could still be there, but they have been changed beyond recognition. There is lots to look at in this picture, and one can only wonder how they removed that much snow back then. You can see a group of men on the left, behind the snowbank, perhaps with camera equipment.

Now – The Aftermath of a Snowy Mess

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, Aberdeen began to be pelted with yet another storm. When it was over, we had received 11 more inches of snow. To date, we received over 70 inches of snow in the 2022-2023 winter season. This photo isn’t that attractive because the snow has been mostly cleared, and temperatures warmed enough to begin the messy melt. This image of the west side of the 200 block was taken at the same corner of 3^rd and Main, however, I could not get up higher to replicate the perspective shown in the 1897 THEN photo. You can recognize several buildings, including the three mentioned in the THEN photo, such as the Red Rooster, (red awnings on the left), and the Citizens Building. The Citizens Building was built in 1909 and was one of the tallest in the region at the time. Further down the street you can see that the road is barricaded. This is due to the collapses of the three-story Van Slyke building that ejected rubble into the street, immediately after the snow fall. //