Wagons Removing Snow in New York City, January 1908 | State Historical Society of Iowa

Six, horse-drawn, snow-piled wagons lined up outside of brick buildings and next to streetcar tracks in New York City.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, "[Wagons removing snow]," January 1908

Description

A line of horse-drawn wagons are shown hauling snow in New York City, 1908. The job of snow removal in a place like New York City is a big task. In the mid-1800s, individual citizens in New York City would clear the streets after a snowfall. There was simply no one else to do it. The only other option was to wait until the snow melted and travel on foot using snowshoes in the meantime. The police department took on that job until 1881 when the Department of Street Clearing was started. The population of New York City was 3,437,202 in 1900 and had grown to 8,175,133 in 2010.

Source-Dependent Questions

Is New York, New York an urban area or a rural area? Use evidence from the image to support your answer.
Compare and contrast this image to the fleet of snow plows in Iowa, the train with the snow blade, the snow plow in rural Iowa and the train snow plow. How is this snow removal the same and how is it different?

Citation Information

"[Wagons removing snow]," January 1908. Courtesy of Library of Congress