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Here's Howe The North Texas freeze of 1937
One might think that the recent cold weather was too much to bear But "climate change" took place in exactly 82 years ago last week right here in Howe After experiencing a 1937 Christmas with weather much more like the Fourth of July, old man winter put on a show that was remembered by anyone that experienced it
It all started with a slow drizzling rain on Wednesday, Jan 6 The temperatures dropped to freezing and heavy fog and mist turned to ice on trees and telephone wires
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A blue norther hit at midnight and blocked out the sun until it finally broke through the low-hanging clouds on Thursday, Jan 14 But the freezing weather came back the following day and hung around for another week allowing only two days of sun in the first three weeks of 1937
Telephone and electric service was interrupted only slightly in Howe with the north and east sections of the town being without service for several days But it was the rural areas that were really hit hard as poles and lines strewed the road sides Poles were broken at the ground, some varying degrees of height from the ground while others were uprooted Very few poles were left standing as the shattering came from the weight of ice giving an appearance of having been struck by lightning. Large trees with nothing but the trunk standing were frequent sites
Our neighbors in Tom Bean, however, had the worst of it in Grayson County They were cut off from the outside world with only communication being by telegraph; although that was out for a while. Local residents experienced a taste of pioneer days of their forefathers
Electric power went out in Tom Bean and stayed that way for a week A repair crew from the Community Public Service Co
Caraway

Nativity collections, let’s extend this blessed holiday to January 6 by collecting and displaying the Three Kings Then we can begin celebrating the Carnival season leading up to Mardi Gras on March 5 Mardi Gras ends the day before Ash Wednesday and leads into Easter, and before we know it Spring has arrived. Isn’t that a pleasant way to get through the cold winter months? Many blessings to all my readers began restoring service from the Whitewright plant Wednesday and partial service was restored by nightfall It was reported at the time that the estimated damage would run into an incredible three figures at $300
Telephone service was badly crippled according to E G Gann, the manager of the Tom BeanSherman Telephone Co Long distance communication was impossible with a wire up to Whitewright only part of the time Crews started Tuesday to untangle the wires
Howe was without mail service from Wednesday night until Sunday night except for a small amount brought to Howe from Sherman The last Interurban (Texas Electric Railway) passed through at 10:54 on Wednesday night with service resuming late Sunday afternoon Busses were operated over the highway to provide service
During the ice storm, high schoolers took advantage of the rare opportunity to enjoy some winter sports Margaret Alice Erskine, aged 17, sustained a broken leg about 9:30 Saturday night in South Howe as she overturned an improvised bobsled Two sleds were coupled together and fastened to the rear of an automobile for added thrills. The accident occurred when an attempt was made to negotiate a sharp turn
Miss Erskine was taken to the St. Vincent's sanitarium in Sherman where both bones were found to be broken She stayed with her parents, Mr and Mrs J C Erskine after the weather subsided.
Whatever happened to Miss Margaret Alice Erskine? Well, she married Preston Wight Feb 6, 1943 and lived to the age of 94 when she passed away June 18, 2014
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Georgia Caraway and her friends operate the Howe Mercantile at 107-109 ½ East Haning Store hours are Thursday through Saturday 12 noon until 8 p.m. All five of Georgia’s Denton history books and her book on taking care of your antiques and collectibles are available at Howe Mercantile She hopes her next book will be the history of Howe
SHOP LOCAL We can show you Howe!

