Destruction and Renewal
On September 21, 1938, a historically devastating hurricane blew through New England, tearing a swath of destruction from Long Island to southern Quebec. Unprecedented in its intensity and speed, the storm destroyed much of coastal Rhode Island, killing nearly 400 in the Ocean State alone. The accompanying storm surge swept up Narragansett Bay and submerged parts of downtown Providence beneath 13 feet of water.
In Massachusetts, the Blue Hill Observatory south of Boston clocked sustained winds at 121mph, gusting to 186. On the North Shore, the fishing town of Gloucester reported a 50 foot wave, the highest of the storm.
As it blew north along the Connecticut River, interior sections of the region were pummeled as well. Downtown Peterborough, New Hampshire burned and forests across the state were flattened. Franconia and Crawford notches were both rendered impassable by landslides
While the eye of the storm passed to the west of the White Mountains region, the Cog Railway was not spared. Fully exposed to 163mph wind gusts battering the summit, Jacob’s Ladder and much of Long Trestle were destroyed.
Rebuilding the trestle presented a significant financial burden to the railway, but with a loan from Dartmouth College, the work was completed in 5 weeks. Opening day in the spring of 1939 once again saw steam trains climbing Jacob’s Ladder to the summit.
Today, Jacob’s Ladder is a sturdy steel trestle designed to withstand hurricane force winds, but visitors can still see some of the 1938 storm debris on the rocky col below. The damage sustained during the Hurricane of 1938 remained an anomaly until another fierce weather event left its destructive mark on the railway nearly 80 years later.