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Hartford Courant, February 23, 1888

 

Zoar Bridge Again

The Display of Last Year

Likely to be Repeated

 

A year ago the breaking up of the ice left vast quantities about Zoar Bridge and the sight for weeks was worth a long journey.  In the present breaking up it seems that the scenes of that year may be repeated. The Ansonia Sentinel says: “The ice up the Housatonic broke up about 3 o’clock this morning, and co me down with terrific force. A dam was formed just below Squantuck and the water backed up two feet higher than ever known before.  The roads along the river are obliterated and the ice lies in great piles for miles.

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“At Zoar Bridge the piles are within four feet of the bottom of the bridge. French’s house, about which there was such a jam last year, is shut in now with the ice piled up to the eaves. The ice was lifted high above the huge stones at Otter Rock, and they are mostly hidden from sight.  The scene far surpasses in grandeur anything that has ever been witnessed along the river. Days must elapse before roads can be cut through the mass, and travel is suspended except on foot.

 

A Birmingham dispatch of Wednesday says: – “The water is falling today, but is leaving cakes of ice behind that will not melt away until next July. Fences and barns in the vicinity have been demolished and considerable farm produce swept away.  The blockade at Washington bridge is also a beautiful one, and photographers were at work taking pictures.”