The Knickerbocker Storm

Washington, DC and surrounding areas are still digging out from the enormous amounts of snow that Snowzilla dumped on us this past Saturday. The center of the storm, Glengary, West Virginia, saw 42 inches of snow fall in a 36 hour time period. At least 42 people have died due to the storm, thousands lost power, roofs have collapsed and federal government employees haven't been able to get to their offices since Friday morning. But while this snow storm has affected millions of people, it was not the most deadly. 

Photo: washingtonpost.com

On January 27, 1922, a winter storm struck the Eastern Seaboard. The storm developed slowly and took three days to move from the south to the mid-Atlantic, dumping snow from the Carolinas up to Pennsylvania, with temperatures hovering around 20º Fahrenheit.  At least 20 inches of snow fell, with 28 inches covering Washington, DC, causing Congress to adjourn. But this was not the worst of the storm. 

Photo: wusa9.com

The Knickerbocker Theatre, built in 1917, was the largest in Washington, DC. On January 28th, the theatre was showing the silent film Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford. During the intermission, at 9:30 p.m., the flat roof of the theatre collapsed under the weight of the snow. Emergency personnel arrived on site quickly and all other theatres in the city were closed to prevent similar accidents. The rescuers worked until the next afternoon to free those who were trapped, but 98 people were killed while 133 more were injured. 

Photo: cinematreasures.org

After the theatre's collapse, the storm was nicknamed the Knickerbocker Storm and it is the worst winter storm in terms of lives lost in Washington, DC history.