Earthquakes
Largest: New Hampshire quake to date, June 1638
At the time, Salisbury hadn’t been settled by Europeans yet, but places like Portsmouth, NH, Plymouth, NH, and Boston, MA were, and accounts of the event exist. Ships in the harbor were tossed by giant waves, people were thrown around, and chimneys collapsed in Plymouth Plantation. Native Americans and missionaries along the St. Lawrence River felt it too. In Massachusetts, it was heard as a loud noise that approached, followed by intense shaking lasting several minutes.
For more: The great New England quake of 1638
Size: 6.5-7
Location: Recent seismic activity suggests that the epicenter is likely located in the Boscawen, Merrimack Basin, or Northfield area.
When the town’s boundaries were established, the southern edge was about four miles from what is believed to be the earthquake’s epicenter, based on damage, reports, and geological data. While it’s impossible to know for sure, some evidence suggests it was near the Cumberland Farms in Boscawen, east under the Merrimack River, or possibly just into Northfield. Either way, “Salisbury to be” definitely felt the rumble.
HOW CAN THE EPICENTER BE KNOWN?
1996:The 1638 earthquake is the oldest one displayed on this map, though its location is uncertain by 100 to 200 kilometers or more. Based on intensity data, Ebel (1996) estimated its epicenter to be on the Vermont-New Hampshire border, with a possible range extending from northeastern New York State to central Maine.
1999/2000: Ebel (2000) observed that recent small earthquake epicenters in central New Hampshire align in two diffuse trends, one running north and the other northeast. He speculated that these alignments could be aftershocks of the 1638 mainshock. In an earlier study, Ebel (1999) proposed that the 1638 epicenter was near Northfield, New Hampshire, and included a map showing the earthquake located there.
John E. Ebel has been a professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College for more than 30 years and serves as the Director of the Weston Observatory, which monitors and studies earthquakes in New England and nearby areas. He earned a B.A. in physics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology. He has also consulted on seismic hazard assessments for over 20 major engineering projects, including highway bridges, LNG tanks, dams, and other critical structures in the U.S. and countries like the Bahamas, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Jordan, Puerto Rico, Chile, and Tunisia. He resides in Natick, Massachusetts.
For more information: New Hampshire Earthquakes | Northeast States Emergency Consortium
Fires
Throughout our town’s history, fires have destroyed several structures, but there is no record of widespread forest fires.
Legend has it, though not officially documented, that in 1796, a fire stripped the entire peak of Mt. Kearsarge up to about 250 feet from the summit. In 1849, a landowner observed that the Bald Mountain area on Mt. Kearsarge had also burned. Pages 9-10 of Mimi Wiggin’s book “Mount Kearsarge, History Stories and Legends” provide more details on this. The book is a treasure trove of information about Mt. Kearsarge and is available at the Salisbury Free Library.
There are no accounts from settlers on the mountain slopes that the fire ever reached them. Salisbury’s western town line corner extends over the flood plain to Sawyers Mountain on Mt. Kearsarge’s slopes and nearly reaches the road leading up to the mountain.
The South Road area of town suffered greatly from two devastating structure fires. In July 1882, a fire destroyed a charming inn that once stood at the corner diagonally across from what is now the Crossroads Country Store at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 127. An image exists of the inn on South Road Village
In 1895, a fire at the site of what is now the store destroyed four major structures and endangered others. While no photographs of these buildings have been discovered, an artist’s conceptual drawing can be found in Dr. Paul Shaw’s book “Salisbury Lost.”
Fires like these were not unusual, as detailed in a book available at the Salisbury Free Library and for purchase through the Salisbury Historical Society. The book features photos of many stunning buildings lost over time. We’re lucky that so many still stand and thankful to Dr. Shaw for capturing them all in one concise read.
Freshets and FloodsÂ
Freshet is an old term that typically refers to spring thaws, which, along with spring rain, cause streams and rivers to overflow. It was also commonly used to describe flooding caused by rain in general.
Before the dam system was built in New Hampshire, low-lying areas often faced frequent flooding. Freshets caused significant damage not only to rural communities but also to downstream populated regions. Salisbury’s mills, positioned along rivers and streams, were particularly at risk, especially when poorly maintained. Even if the buildings withstood the floods, the shaft or tub wheels often ended up damaged. For more on mill water mechanics, see Power of Water on our website.
The Wilder and Bowers Flaxseed Mill, a large oil mill, was the first built on Stirrup Iron Brook in the late 1700s. It thrived for several years, but the cultivation of flaxseed eventually stopped, and the mill was destroyed by a freshet in 1826, likely during the summer freshet mentioned later. Over the next century, the site hosted various enterprises that made use of the stream and pond.
“On the 28th of August of this year, the most terrific and destructive rain storm visited New Hampshire, which has been known since the settlement of the State. The windows of heaven opened, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the torrents came rumbling from the hills. Roads were destroyed, bridges were swept away, and the hills themselves descended into the valleys. During the night of the 28th, a whole family in the Crawford Notch of the White Mountains was buried beneath a landslide.  Many of the road beds in Salisbury were destroyed, and most of the bridges were carried away.”From The History of Salisbury by John Dearborn.Â
The town of Salisbury has a substantial area that falls within the Blackwater Dam (Webster) Flood Control Plain, which serves as an emergency flooding area should the need arise. A small Salisbury village was removed, and 2 cemeteries were relocated during the building of the Blackwater Dam by the US Army Corps of Engineers. See the following on our website: Smith’s Corners,  Bean/Smith’s Corner Graveyard, Stevens/Sawyer Graveyard.
Construction of Blackwater Dam began in May 1940 and was completed in November 1941 for $1.3 million. The project has prevented $77.4 million in flood damage since it was built (as of September 2011).
The Blackwater Dam doesn’t have a lake, but its flood storage area spans about 3,280 acres, stretching upstream for seven miles through Salisbury with a maximum width of one mile. It can hold up to 15 billion gallons of water for flood control, which is equal to 6.7 inches of water spread across its 128-square-mile drainage area.
1821 TornadoÂ
The 1821 Tornado ripped through Sunapee Lake and into New London, splitting into two columns as it moved to the north side of Sutton and the northwest side of Mt. Kearsarge. The columns merged again as the tornado crossed the mountain, sweeping into Warner and Salisbury as a single, terrifying force. It finally dissipated in Boscawen, leaving behind a path of complete devastation.
The tornado was estimated to be in the F-4 category, with winds reaching 207-240 mph. To this day, it remains the deadliest tornado to ever sweep through New Hampshire.
This most harrowing event and its effects are written about in detail in”The History of Salisbury” by John Dearborn: The Warner Tornado 1821
1826 Year of the Grasshopper & (The Great Summer Freshet & The Drought)
“The summer was very hot and dry, and with the drought came a vast army of grasshoppers, which destroyed nearly every green thing. The year was referred to for a long time as “the year of the great drought”,  the year of the great freshet, and the “grasshopper year” from the History of Salisbury by John Dearborn, 1890.
Landslide
In western Salisbury, known as the Watson district after one of the original settling families, the town extends onto Mt. Kearsarge and briefly intersects with the road leading nearly to the summit from the Warner side. The mountainside was once cleared, with sheep grazing along its slopes. Further research is needed to determine if the clearing contributed to the landslide.
“(1819) In the spring of this year, a mass of earth and stones of several tons weight came detached from the declivity of Kearsarge Mountain, and was precipitated with great violence into the valley below, sweeping a path of forty rods in its width.”
From the History of Salisbury by John Dearborn, 1890, page 90
1881 Yellow Day
“September 6th, 1881, was characterized as the “Yellow Day” and will be remembered as exhibiting some of the most beautiful phenomena ever witnessed. The day was warm, even sultry, and the rays of the sun were obstructed by a curtain of haze or smoke. The green of the grass and foliage of the trees and shrubbery was converted into blue, while the prevailing tint upon other objects was yellow. At times, the cloud was so thick as to cause a deep gloom, making gas or other light necessary for the transaction of business. The gas-jets burned white; nothing appeared to the eye in its natural hues, and the effect was like a magical transformation by invisible artists, behind he scenes, with the world for a stage. Â Travelers in England, it is said, have witnessed similar effects from the sun dimly shining through a “London fog”. The cause is undoubtedly to be attributed to the presence of smoke, which, by a peculiar condition of the atmosphere, was held suspended like a screen between the earth and the sun. As extensive forest fires had been raging in Canada and northern New York and Vermont, no other explanation seems necessary. The phenomenon extended beyond the limits of New England. ” History of Salisbury by John Dearborn, 1890.
1833 Snowing Stars Nov 13
From the northern lakes to the southern shores of Jamaica, reports flooded in of a spectacular, nearly unceasing fiery meteor shower. Lasting from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. for seven hours, it lit up the sky, as thick as snowflakes and as brilliant as the stars themselves. Snowing Stars Fritz Weatherbee
Mountains of SnowÂ
Before 1865, what did people do to manage all the snow piling up on roadways?
The Road Roller by Rockwell Kent, Dublin, New Hampshire, 1909
Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
In our town, the Museum building was originally used to store the town hearse for burials, with an added extension that housed the Town Roller. Rollers came in various sizes. The hearse is still in excellent condition and is now on display at The Museum, but unfortunately, the roller was damaged and lost to the weather over time.
It’s possible that in our town, horse-drawn plows were used to clear smaller driveways and roads, as was common in cities. If you have any photos of the Old Salisbury Town Roller or other vintage highway equipment from Salisbury that you’d like to share, please contact us at contact@salisburyhistoricalsociety.org
On a Roll: For much of American history, snow removal wasn’t a big concern—people actually preferred having snow around. This might seem surprising to modern Northeasterners and Midwesterners, but back then, transportation relied on horse-drawn vehicles, not cars like the Prius. To navigate winter conditions, horse carts and coaches swapped their wheels for ski-like runners, making packed snow on roads an advantage rather than a problem. Historian and weather enthusiast Eric Sloane noted that in the 18th and 19th centuries, “snow was never a threat” to road travel but was actually considered an asset.
To keep snowy roads in good condition, many towns hired “snow wardens” who used a basic vehicle called a snow roller. This was essentially a massive, wide wheel filled with rocks for weight and pulled by oxen or horses to pack and flatten the snow. Unlike the winter roadwork we see today, it was more like grooming a ski slope or smoothing an ice rink. Interestingly, snow wardens even had to add snow to the pathways of covered bridges to ensure uninterrupted travel.
Photo Courtesy: Schwartz Boiler Shop
By the mid-1800s, various inventors had patented their designs for horse-drawn snow plows, aimed at clearing alleys and residential streets with more foot traffic than carriages. In 1862, Milwaukee became the first major city to give it a try, and it was a success. Over the next few years, these plows started appearing in cities across the Snow Belt.
Horse-drawn plows were no match for the Blizzard of 1888, which battered the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine. Over three days, some areas were buried under up to 50 inches of snow, with winds creating drifts as high as 40 feet. The plow-pulling horses, like everyone else, had to wait indoors for the snow to melt. Cities in the region took a lesson from the storm, and by the next year, many had hired more plows, assigned routes, and started clearing roads earlier.
Excerpt from Celebrate Boston online. The worst blizzard in English-American history to hit the eastern United States occurred on March 11 and 12, 1888. This storm wreaked havoc from Maine to New Jersey, with some areas receiving snow drifts as high as 50 inches. The largest snow accumulation in central New England? Reading The, and the greatest consequence of the storm was borne on New York City. About 400 people tragically lost their lives. This weather event quickly became known as The Blizzard of 1888 or The Great White Hurricane.  Weather forecasting was inaccurate in 1888. Weather stations dotted the country, and prevailing conditions were telegraphed to downstream locations. The Blizzard of 1888 was essentially not predicted, and as people went about their normal lives, a massive storm struck with little warning. Rain quickly turned to sleet, then heavy snow. Trains loaded with passengers were stranded on the tracks. People weary of losing their jobs went to work in defiance of the storm, and a few were frozen to death while attempting to return home. In some rural areas, people were stranded inside their homes for nearly two weeks.
1938 Â Hurricane
The connecting bridge between Salisbury Heights and Scribner’s Corner was washed out during the hurricane, cutting off direct access, and it was never rebuilt.
Below from the following courtesy of bigstory.ap.org
PLYMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — It slammed into land and rapidly moved north, destroying buildings, altering coastlines, ripping apart forests, and shocking a population that had never experienced a hurricane.
About 700 people died 75 years ago when the storm known variously as the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 or the Long Island Express began plowing up the Northeast coastline at 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 21, 1938.
A weather station in Massachusetts recorded sustained winds of 121 mph and gusts as high as 186 mph — a major storm by modern standards that dwarfs the land wind speeds recorded in storms Irene and Sandy, which also devastated parts of the Northeast in recent years.
Two oral history mentions: The Hurricane of 1938 in Salisbury & The Great Hurricane of 1938
“The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora was one of the most powerful eruptions in recorded history and is the most recent known….The eruption of the volcano, on the island of Sumbawa in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), reached a climax on 10 April 1815 and was followed by between six months and three years of increased steaming and small phreatic eruptions.  The eruption column lowered global temperatures, and some experts believe this led to global cooling and worldwide harvest failures, sometimes known as the Year Without A Summer in 1816.  The eruption resulted in a brief period of significant climate change that led to various cases of extreme heat. Several climate forces coincided and interacted in a systematic manner that has not been observed since, despite other large eruptions that have occurred since the early Stone Age. Although the link between the post-eruption climate changes and the Tambora event has been established by various scientists, the understanding of the processes involved is incomplete. “courtesy Wikipedia