In just a few inches, these two photos span more than a century. Kind readers will recognize this image as an eastward view of Cross Street, taken just east of Huron. It encompasses the old City Hall on the left, Cross Street Bridge, and a sliver of Riverside Park.
Between the 1907 photo and the 2009 photo, how many differences can you spot? There are also a couple of structures that Dusty D does not recognize, to my chagrin--but perhaps a reader will! You can click on each photo for a larger image.
Here are the differences I notice:
1. The 2009 photo features some 250-horsepower vehicles; the old photo features a 1-horsepower vehicle.
2. The old photo has what appears to be manually-operated railroad traffic barriers in the distance. Where did the operator stay?
3. The new photo features an addition on the east side of the old City Hall at left.
4. The old photo shows a much narrower Cross Street Bridge.
5. The old photo shows a large white building opposite the river from the old City Hall. Dusty D hastens to inform readers that I once knew what this was, but have unfortunately forgotten. On the water as it is, would it be a mill?
6. The old photo displays a complex of buildings in what is now Riverside Park. What are these buildings?
7. The old photo features telegraph (?) or electrical poles; which one?
8. The new photo shows streetlights...it must have been very dark going home in 1907.
How many other differences can you spot? Feel free to add your observations and speculations in "comments."
7 comments :
*Are* those buildings on the right in Riverside Park? It looks to me that they are on the far side of the river from the present park -- maybe behind where the newer storefronts are just beyond the bridge. There's a sign in white -- almost looks like it could say "Engine 1." I know there was a controversy over the location of the fire station and some bitterness that it was located on the west side of the river. Was there a fire station on the east side of the river? That sounds familiar, but unsure.
There are hideous "Cool City" banners in the new photo.
The stubborn little doggie sitting before the bridge may belong to the guy who's impatiently waiting on the bridge (in the old photo).
What is that thing in the middle of the street down there in Depot Town, before the barriers? Looks like a white [something] on a post?
Yes, Dusty D, the white building across the river from the old city hall is a mill. The building was demolished in 1925, and was replaced by a automobile garage.
Dear Lisele:
You have a sharp eye! The buildings in Riverside Park **may** be the onetime lumber mill, Scovill's, that once occupied Frog Island and later the spot where the little self-storage place is just off Huron, north of Frog Island. The Dusty D investigative team is at present trying to pin down the identity of these Riverside structures.
The object in the street just shy of the railroad barriers appears to be a bicycle (?) Which were likely still a Hot Item in town after the late 19th-century nationwide bicycle craze. But perhaps Dusty D is wrong and another kind reader can offer a better suggestion.
Dear James,
Thank you for your kind comment. The Dusty D investigative team has since uncovered photos (soon to be published) that verify your knowledgable assertion that the white building is indeed a mill--a series of flour mills, in fact, including Deubel's Mill and some other iterations. The site right on the river, just south of the Frog Island millrace powering Scovill's lumber mill, provided hydropower.
When were the earliest mills established? Would they predate a depot in Depot Town?
Dear Mr. Brent: The mills in the river are under investigation thanks to your kind comment. Members of Dusty D's forensics team have unearthed photos in the Archives relating to what appears to be a series of at lease 3 flour mills. If I may ask for your kind patience I hope to post these pix soon with information about when these mills were standing in the river...on top of the eventual death site, on the northeast side of Frog Island, of the Streicher boy.
at *least*, not at lease. Bah.
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