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Twice a month, we ask the experts at the Museum of History and Industry for a tidbit about Seattle’s history. In this segment of “Ask MOHAI,” MOHAI’s Phyllis Franklin looks at how Seattleites worked together to survive a major winter weather event: the Big Snow of 1916.

Has Seattle ever had a real snowstorm?


“Beleaguered, Seattle fought its relentless and insidious enemy yesterday and in the end admitted defeat. The white menace leveled it silent and interminable attack without cessation all day and night. [It] played havoc with the peaceful traffickings and activities of man.” — Seattle Post Intelligencer, February 3, 1916, p. 1

Cars and a streetcar stuck in snow downtown, Seattle, 1916. (Photo courtesy of MOHAI)

Though it looks like a description of a foreign invasion, this quote is, in fact, coverage of a ferocious snow storm which blanketed Seattle during the first week of February, 1916. The snow began as a light sprinkle on Monday, January 31st, but by 1 pm the following day, it had been falling incessantly for 27 hours. 400 shovel-wielding men, along with the city’s seven snowplows and numerous trucks, cleared city streets and streetcar lines, dumping the excess snow into Elliot Bay. But despite the herculean efforts of this temporary army, snow continued to pile up, immobilizing streetcars, the interurban, telephone and telegraph lines. Further out, railway lines were impassable due to astounding snow depths in the Cascades, some reaching more than 200 inches!

By February 3rd schools were closed indefinitely and commerce screeched to a halt. Emergency supplies were brought in from local dairies to ensure local children would have plenty of milk, while the rest of the city was assured that food supplies would last several days. Snow accumulations topped out at 38 inches, making it necessary to clear the huge flat roofs – so common in Seattle at that time – of their heavy snow burden. In spite of the 800 men shoveling snow, several rooftops collapsed before they could be cleared, the most dramatic being the dome of the recently completed St. James Cathedral.

On February 2, 1916, the dome of St. James Cathedral collapsed under the weight of 15 tons of wet snow. Three feet of snow had accumulated in Seattle over two days, and warming temperatures made the snow even heavier, causing the collapse. Services did not resume in the cathedral for more than a year after the storm. (Photo courtesy of MOHAI)

Seattle’s “interminable attack” of 1916 finally ended on February 4th when the snow stopped and temperatures rose. But a new fear replaced that of ice and snow — flooding. To ensure that the city’s sewer system could accommodate the swell of expected water, 600 men worked to open drains and clear crosswalks and streets, creating mountain ranges of snow in the process. Days later, though the snow was still a foot high in some areas, travel in and around Seattle resumed. The fears of flooding were averted.

Newspapers thanked the legions of citizens who pulled together to vanquish the storm, and admonished those who impeded their progress. With the efforts of “every man in the city” and the perseverance required to wait it out, the Big Snow of 1916 became yet another memory in Seattle’s past.

Do you think the Big Thanksgiving Snow of 2010 will make history? If so, consider making a movie about it for MOHAI’s History Is____ film competition. For more information on how to enter, visit

Got a question for next time? Send it here.

More Ask MOHAI:

What might have Seattle’s first Thanksgiving been like?
Seattle had a golden age of chicken ranching?
Where are Seattle’s historic haunted hot spots?
What were Seattle’s real speakeasies like?
What were Seattle’s earliest schools like?
Was Seattle ever a jazz city?
Eddie Bauer and Seattle as the birthplace of quilted down parkas
The tale of Seattle and bicycles – a love story
How did Capitol Hill get its name?
Where was Seattle’s gay culture born?
Bad dad? To the Lazy Husband Farm you go
Beer and baseball: Why they go way back in Seattle
What is the oldest building in Seattle?
Has Seattle ever had a female mayor?
A history of charity: How Seattle Children’s Home got its start

What was the Puget Sound area’s most famous kidnapping?
When did the UW win its first Olympic gold medal?
What was Seattle’s most disruptive construction project?
Who started Seattle’s Christmas Ship Festival — and why?
WTO: What other civil unrest has marked Seattle’s history?
What was the first legal drinking age in Washington?
Looking back: How Seattle handled another flu outbreak
What’s the oldest public art in Seattle?
Why is it called “grunge”?
Who was Seattle’s most popular mayor?
Why are there so many motels on Aurora Avenue?
What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to the Space Needle?
How long has Seattle supported gay rights?
Why are cars allowed to drive on Pike Place?

Categories: Ask MOHAI

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