“Shown are Lawrence Rugg (L) & Ivan Bandlow (R) helping clear a road.”“Shown is Charles Lazansky, rural mail carrier for the Huntley Post Office”“Only way my Dad (Mr. Bartelt) could get milk to town was by horses & a bobsled” mentioned by Mrs. Amrein in the 2014 article.The winter of 1936 became unforgettable for those who lived through it. It began with a snowstorm on January 22. As snow clean-up of roads and pathways were coming to completion, another snowstorm hit on February 3. Adding to what already blanketed the land, an estimated 6 inches of snow quickly added to January’s snow fall and drifted into huge snowbanks due to high winds. The temperatures of 25 degrees below zero on February 5th added to the delays of snow removal and clean up. Yet, the worst was still to come. On February 8, 1936, a blizzard hit and brought everything to a halt that wasn’t already except for the community spirit.
Most newspaper articles at this time focused on the magnitude of this far-reaching weather event that severely impacted all the Midwest and Great Plains. The papers did not provide much, if any, news about the village of Huntley. 78 years later, there was an article on February 5th, 2014 by Denise Moran in the Courier News that had sources from the local area recounting their experiences during this blizzard. LaVerne Bartelt Amrein, a Huntley resident and grade school student at the time of the weather event, stated in this article “The roads were closed and we did not have school for six weeks.” Fortunately, the library’s Local History department has some amazing photos that exemplify what words lacked; the community’s spirit rallying against Nature’s deposits. The local community came together to help those who were stranded. They worked together to clear paths for milk deliveries and so much more. The Local History department hopes you will enjoy these photos and wishes you all a Happy New Year!
Sources:
“More Snow is Promised as Cold Lets Up.” Belvidere Daily Republican, 1/24/1936, p.1 &p.4
“Heavy Snows Block Highways.” The McHenry Plaindealer. 2/6/1936, p.8
“Blizzard Hits North Illinois with Gale and Subzero Cold.” Republican-Northwestern (Belvidere, IL), 2/11/1936, p.4 & p.8
“Harvard and Crystal Lake Highway Open: More Highlights on Isolation.” The Daily Sentinel, 2/11/1936, p.1
“New Blizzard Blocks Every McHenry Road.” The McHenry Plaindealer, 2/13/1936, p.1
Moran, Denise. “So Cold and So Miserable, Fox Valley residents recall winter of 1936.” Courier News, 2/5/2014, p.3 <
McHenry Public Library, 3/7/2023, “The Blizzard of 1936.” MPLD Local History Blog: Making history come alive. https://mpldlocalhistory.blog/2023/03/07/the-blizzard-of-1936/
