Meteorite in 1876--turning my earlier question around

A few weeks ago, I posted a thread about a meteorite hitting New Hampshire's White Mountains--specifficly, at the edge of Profile Lake, in 1876. https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=297846 It seems to me that the one postulated (breaking some windows in the nearest cities, some 50 miles away, knocking down some buildings in towns 40 miles away, and blasting a crater a mile or so out of solid rock, should create a wide scale, long term effect. Some think that this might not be the case, because my impact point is far from any major cities.

So—what level of damage to the nearest major cites of Manchester or Concord would be necessary to cause a major change in the timeline. I’m not changing the impact site, so the only option is changing the size of the BOOM! Many opinions are wanted, along with the rationalle.

Personally, I think that the already described blast is sufficient to cause some serious changes in the nation’s attitude—but I want dissenting opinions here before I really get the timeline into gear.

It happens on one of those lovely New England mornings in June, when there might not be a cloud for 100 miles or more—the mushroom cloud, towering many miles high, will be seen all over the place.

So—How big?
 
Do you want the fact that it's an impact to cause an effect, or the results of the event to cause an effect?

If the results are sufficient, then something large enough to cause significant damage to Berlin would cause a lot of small but surprisingly noticeable changes - the PoD is early enough that the town hasn't yet experienced the population boom and industrialization that, in OTL, came shortly after this date. If you can scare people away from that location, then there are a good number of inventions and discoveries from OTL that won't happen - I'd need to go back and check the list out again, but I think at least a few of those would have some sort of impact.

If you want the fact that it's a meteor, damage is less important than scale. Meteors weren't exactly terrifying, but a massive Tunguska-style airburst would certainly spook people. I'd need to look at actual distances to see what kind of damage that would cause, though, and I wouldn't be willing to speculate on what sort of reaction people might actually have to an event of that scale.

Lastly, if you won't change location, perhaps date? Setting it more recently in history would have more of an impact on the region, which might cause some small ripples outwards to the rest of the world.

Its an interesting idea, I just think that the original proposal (a boom in the middle of nowhere, and not a terribly difficult to explain one) seems a bit underwhelming in terms of potential impact on the world.

Also, lovely mornings in June? XD I don't know how much time you've spent in the region, but that particular area has an average of 9 cloud-free days per year.
 
I'm a native of the place

I've lived there for a LONG time, on ther seacoast. Cloudless days happen now and then--or at least days with very, very few clouds. One of my last visits to the mountains before I moved was in June, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Even Mount Washington was reporting clear skies...and that is rare, I know. From the top of Cannon Mountain, there were NO clouds visible

The blast as written will knock trees down 10 miles away--it's a noticable event in a big way. Thanks--I still have much thinking to do here.
 
Fires

I'm assuming there are going to be a few fires - it's a heavily wooded area, and if its been a dry summer, the evergreens are going to burn. Especially if it's big enough to wreck Concord. Are we talking Galveston Hurricane damage, or something less total?
 
Damage

As the current explosion is described, Concird is moderately damaged--there's some light damage to various buildings, and hardy a pane of glass is still there. Somehow, I'd forgot about fires. That's a game-changer--though at least it's moving slow enough that the program says there's no massive fireball. (Faster moving, there would be...)

Berlin is heavily damaged, and towns like Lincoln are erased, to the point that you might not be able to tell there was a town there. The logging industry for a good part of the area is gone, too.

Make the explosion bigger, and Berlin will have no buildings intact.

The more I contemplate things, the more it seems that the impact as I originally described it, could be good enough to really start some changes. It might depend on what people do in the first few days and weeks. Perception is everything--and perception is changed by many things.
If people like the government are treating it as a serious, major concern, then those thoughts could feed on themselves-likewise, if it's treated as a once in a zillion years freak event, others will tend to go along.

As it it, New Hampshite will be forever changed in many ways...
 
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