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WEST VIRGINIA (WTRF) West Virginia enjoys the beauty of all four seasons, but Mother Nature can make some seasons more memorable than others.

The winter of 1917 was one of those seasons. It was so cold that the Ohio River froze solid for its entire length, according to Only In Your State. That’s 981 miles, beginning at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, winding by West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, then emptying into the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois.

People were able to ice skate across the river in 1917.

October and December of that year were the coldest on record. By the end of October, many weather stations across the Mountain State reported snow accumulation totals of up to 15 inches.

West Virginia’s coldest temperature of 37 degrees below zero was recorded on Dec. 30, 1917 in Lewisburg.

The Ohio River froze again in 1977 and people were able to walk across it. A passenger steamboat, the Princess, was crushed and sank by the ice, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Thankfully, these extreme winter temperatures are rare, but seeing the Ohio River frozen solid is an historic event.