History Lesson For the Day

From Robert McNamara, your Guide to 19th Century History

New York City Faced Disasters In the Early 1800s

With much of the media focused today on how Hurricane Sandy will impact New York City and the rest of the Northeast, we're reminded that the city faced disasters in the early 19th century ranging from storms to plague to a colossal fire.

An enormous hurricane pummeled New York in 1821 and its fury was described in the New York Post the following day:

"The falling of slate from the roofs of buildings, and broken glass from the windows, made it unsafe for any one to venture into the streets."

New York City recovered from what became known as The Great September Gale, but faced... Read more