Plowing through

I bet you didn’t know that the first practical highway snow plow was developed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1922 — a century ago!

The first highway snowplow developed in the U.S. was designed and built by Edward Levy, superintendent, City Public Works, Munising, MI, Alger County.

In the U.P., which averages well over 200 inches in a season, it snows almost every day from mid-November to mid-April. As you can imagine, it stacks up fast, and 5- to 6-foot snowbanks are not uncommon.

When you live with this much snow the first thing you learn is that you need to move it…a lot. Snowblowers, plows, multiple shovels and Yooper Scoopers are necessities here.

What did people do before plows? Often they just had to wait out the storm and then dig out with what they had. In the 1800s, crudely built snow roller carts pulled by horses were common. The weighted-down rollers flattened and smoothed out the snow so that people could trade out their wheels on their horse-drawn carts for skis.

As cities grew larger and streets more difficult to maintain, the need for larger, more reliable snow plows became important. Other early plows consisted of horse-drawn carts attached to large pieces of wedge-shaped wood. The wood was eventually replaced with steel, evolving into the snow plows we see on our roadways today.

City and county plow drivers are out there night and day during the snowy months to keep our roads clear. Give them a wave next time you pass one 👋