Snow Plowing Was Once Done By Hand on Michigan Roads

Imagine clearing miles of road with nothing but a small crew of workers and shovels. That's exactly what this Depression Era photo from Southwest Michigan shows.

Snow Plowing by Hand?!

Captioned 'Wagner Road 1936' this photo, shared on Facebook by the Berrien County Road Commission, is of a dozen workers attempting to clear a road in the winter. The Road Commission included the comment "Fortunately, snow removal has come a long way in the last 80 years!"

There's no doubt about that. Can you imagine the back-breaking work of trying to clear miles of road this way?

The road that's being cleared, Wagner Road, is located in the far southwest corner of the state running between Buchanan and Weesaw Township near New Buffalo.

Did Snow Plows Not Exist During the Great Depression?

It seems bizarre that miles and miles of roadway would be cleared like someone was clearing a driveway. Snow plows certainly did exist. These images from West Virginia during the same era of the 1930s show that, yes, snow can be cleared by trucks with plows. Perhaps because of the Depression the road commission did not have the funds to run trucks. Or, perhaps, this hand shoveling was a way to earn money and have a job during that difficult time.

Weather Extremes Across America

When you think about winter weather, we'll get it every season fed by the Great Lakes - here are the extremes from across the country.