Photographer: William E. Deeds History Lesson is a pictorial
history of Evansville compiled by Patricia Sides, an archivist
with Willard Library. Winter of 1917-1918 The winter of
1917-1918 was the coldest and most brutal ever recorded in the
Ohio Valley at that time. In Evansville, a total of nearly 68
inches of snow fell, beginning in early December and continuing
for weeks into the new year. Routine activities were brought to
a standstill when schools and businesses were forced to close
and transportation became virtually impossible. Temperatures
that dipped below zero also caused the Ohio River to freeze. For
seven weeks the ice was so hard, it was possible to cross by
foot or wagon. Not until mid-February were steamboats able to
leave the city for the first time in two months. This view of
Southeast Second Street was photographed from Main Street,
across the street from the Strouse & Bros. store.