LONE ROCK (SPECTRUM NEWS) -- 67-years ago, Lone Rock made headlines when it became the coldest place in the country for the day of January 30th, 1951. Now nearly 93-years-old, Jim Greenheck remembers what 53 below zero felt like and says it actually wasn't so bad the first time around.
‘As far as I know, nobody got frostbite, but you know you get used to that, after being out in the cold so much,' Greenheck said.
The mechanic says he wore a pair of overalls that day when he walked to work and only noticed paint peeling and cracking from his garage.
'I was out in the cold so much pulling cars and everything I didn’t really realize it was that cold whatsoever,' he explained. It was also an eerie day, one where Greenheck says you could hear a penny drop.
‘There was no wind whatsoever and that was a good thing and it was very quiet and a lot of em couldn’t get their cars started.'
Luckily, the Greenhecks' had heat and they came out of the bitter cold day just fine. So did the community, with newspaper write-ups across the nation.
‘Calls from New York and all over the country wanting to know what it was like.’
Greenheck says the temps that day weren't just record breaking cold, they were cold enough to break a thermometer at the close by Tri-County Airport.