Westerly Sun Column | History Lessons Abound at Westerly Library & Wilcox Park

Some weather we’ve had this year, amirite? Before the snow started to fall on February 23, I was just holding out hope that we might possibly end up with a snow day. I certainly didn’t imagine the library would be closed for 3 days, or that the storm – the Blizzard of ’26, as it’s now referred to – would drop more than three feet of snow and break all sorts of records. It makes me think about some of the other local landmark storms, which I have been hearing (and reading) about since I came to Westerly.

For many Rhode Islanders, this storm brings back memories of the Blizzard of ’78, which set records by dropping 28.6 inches over the course of two days. Comparatively, last week Providence saw 37.9 inches, most of it falling in just one day. The 2026 storm may have smashed the snowfall records set in 1978, but (thankfully) it didn’t match the level of destruction. We have a number of books in the library consortium, from “The Blizzard of '78” by Michael Tougias to “Storm of the Century: New England's Great Blizzard of 1978” by Christopher J. Haraden, which chronicle the devastating storm through photographs and first-hand accounts from survivors. In fact, a search of “Blizzard of 1978” in our online catalog yields quite a few interesting results, for those interested in looking back on (or learning more about) the historic storm.

Of course, I can’t talk about historic storms without mentioned the infamous Hurricane of 1938, a category 3 hurricane that hit New England on September 21, 1938, causing extreme damage and forever changing the coastline. One of the best known books about this storm is “Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938” by R.A. Scotti, but there are numerous other accounts in the library. “The Great Hurricane—1938” by Cherie Burns offers an hour-by-hour reconstruction of the storm, alongside first-hand stories from survivors. “The 1938 Hurricane: A Historical and Pictorial Summary” compiled and edited by William Elliott Minsinger is another book that is well worth a read, and which includes a plethora of photos and illustrations detailing the destruction of the storm.

Arguably the best resource we have for those interested in learning more about the historic events – weather-related, or otherwise – is the Westerly Sun, which is partially digitized, and available in its entirety on microfilm. Currently, the days surrounding the Blizzard of ’78 are only available on microfilm at the library, but the papers from 1938 are digitized and freely available online through the Local History page on our website. As you can imagine, the paper in the week following the disaster is almost completely dedicated to the storm, and it’s heartbreaking to read. That said, it’s a good reminder of how resilient our community is, and how well-off we are following the Blizzard of 2026, especially in comparison to these past events.

by Cassie Skobrak, Adult Services Librarian