Before and after of the high school in Iron Mountain, MI. I'm guess the post cards was probably from the 20's, so that puts 90 years between pictures? I took the after picture with my late 60's Polaroid 250 land camera.
In <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Plymouth</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">NH</st1:State></st1lace>, originally this was one of <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">two Grafton County Court</st1:address></st1:Street> Houses. It was built in 1774. Thirty two years later, in 1806, Daniel Webster LOST his first criminal case here.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> It was moved in 1823 and became a wheelright shop. Thats what this photo appears to be.<o></o> Then: <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> Sometime later it was give to the Young Ladies Library Association. It was moved again, this time to its current location.<o></o> More recent Then: <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> It remained the Plymouth Public Library into the 1980s. It now houses the <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Plymouth</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Historical</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Museum</st1laceType></st1lace>.<o></o> Now:<o></o>
Got a chance today to take a couple of the "now" images that I've been wanting to shoot. Due to the location I was unable to get my bike in the shots, my apologies. These shots are from my home town of West Boylston, Massachusetts. WB was established when, as often happened at the time, people tired of traveling so far to attend church services. In the late 1700s/early 1800s they built their own meeting house and finally in 1808 were incorporated as a town. The town was established in the area of three rivers - the Nashua, the Stillwater and the Quinapoxet. These rivers were important resources for the town and provided the power for a flourishing factory industry. Little did the towns people know that these same rivers would provide a reason for these factories to be destroyed. In the late 1800's the state of Massachusetts was searching for the locations for several reservoirs that could supply drinking water to the city of Boston. Due to the fact that West Boylston existed in a valley with three separate rivers that provided an abundance of water it was chosen as a prime location to create one of the reservoirs. The work started around 1895. Many wooden structures were destroyed as the wood would contaminate the water. Some were moved out of the valley. Steel structures like the railroad trestles were left standing (and I'm told are still visible in some parts of the res) . Citizens relocated to the parts of the town that were out of the valley. All trees were cut down and the lumber was removed. Both vintage photos that I'm posting today are from 1895. This first one is looking towards the Northeast. The landmark that I've used as a reference is the Old Stone Church (which still stands today). This was the towns original baptist church. Here's the old shot... From left to right is the Old Stone Church, St. Anthony's church, St. Anthony's rectory, a few unidetified buildings and then the original high school. The image from today shows the reservoir and the Old Stone Church... The next image is from the same area, but looking more towards the north. Again the Old Stone Church is the landmark that I've used... You can see the stumps of trees that have been cut down as well as a few rail cars. The image from today... I was a bit off on the angle, so I might try to redo this one. I have a bunch of other shots that I'm going to take over the next few weeks, but wanted to share these from today. Hope you enjoy.
isgro... Excellent, excellent. Great and notable change, and nice history lesson. Sure helps to have an unchanged landmark doesn't it! Similar to here in the west, a serious diff in the number of trees.
All structures around the very edge of the reservoir were meant to be torn down since the state had taken control of those properties and converted it to conservation land. The church you're referring to was one of the many buildings that was destroyed. It's kind of sad as it looks to have been a beautiful church. Here's a shot of the inside... The towns people asked that something be left to remember that soon to be flooded part of town, so that's why the Old Stone Church still stands. It was chosen because of it's importance to the town and because of its stone structure that did not threaten to contaminate the water. Thank you. The landmark is very useful indeed. I haven't had a chance to get around town to take other shots, but I've got a few more places to show some cool then and nows. Hopefully the end of this week as I have a few days off.
The Swedish built this church 100 years ago in the Middle Park, Colorado community of Fraser. About 70 years ago... A few days ago...
Granby, Colorado, almost 90 years ago... The Granby/Grand Lake area is the gateway to the western sides of Rocky Mountain National Park. A quick dash into traffic the other day...
A moving then and now. In Milwaukee,WI pre 1956 (she had cranes installed in 56) Now she lives "perma-docked" as a transfer/storage barge in Marinitte, WI The 504ft "William H. Donner" has been afloat since 1914. .
Awesome Thread Awesome Pics Love your work! http://savanna.cdu.edu.au/publications/landscape_change.html this is a book released here in aus a few years ago using these photos as a way of showing landscape change! Lentil
In the late 1800's the town of Gillett sprung to life a few miles north of the mining communities of Cripple Creek and Victor, Colorado. But rather than minerals, Gillett is mostly famed for moments, an event of August 1895... the only bullfight ever to take place on U.S. soil. The event was highly publicicized. Celebrities from afar traveled for the first-ever event. Bullfighters and bulls were imported for the event from Mexico. A bullfighting ring was constructed. And it ended... with a near riot. Some believe the bulls were tired from the travel. I guess they didn't put up much of fight, and that's what the spectators wanted. The meat was donated locally which appeased some of the locals. Nevertheless, never has there been a bullfight in the U.S. before, and since. Here's the bullfight ring constructed for the event... An empty meadow today... The action in the ring... Now this actually was quite a sizeable town 120 years ago... Hardy residents called Gillett at 10,000ft. elevation home. Seemingly every time I pass through on a bike I am chilled. The barbed wire fence here, and behind me prevented a slightly better "now" perspective... So what has happened to this ghost town? Things were in decay the early 1900's, but the coup de grace came in June 1965 when most of the ghost town structures were swept away after a heavy rain overwhelmed a small earthen dam reservoir that supplied water to the residents long ago. Here's the Catholic Church out in the suburbs of Gillett back in the 1940's... Following the flood 47 years ago. Didn't want to disregard the "no tresspassing" sign, nor risk sensitive body parts to the barbs, so from a distance. Some rocks of the church remain...
Great report as usual Steve. I would love to have seen the rafter layout of this church. It must have been fun to build. I'm glad bull fighting never caught on in Colorado. I've become interested in the time of stagecoach travel in Colorado history and hope I can eventually post photos of what remain of some of those roads. Our library owns your book and I'm on the waiting list. I see that its gotten excellent reviews on Amazon - good for you.
