CENTERBURG — Last week’s column generated a lot of discussion on Facebook, where we were able to narrow some things down about the mysterious vintage postcard photo of Hartford Avenue in Centerburg.
The postcard was undated and conflicting details in the picture made it difficult to estimate its age.
Michele Vogelsang pinpointed the location on Hartford Avenue by pointing out a detail visible next to the wheeled vehicle in the background: to the right of the vehicle is a set of stairs which go up on both sides, reaching a platform which is a side door way into that building.
Michele said that this distinctive feature is seen on only one building in Centerburg. That building is the Centerburg Savings Bank, which was the site of the events we talked about in the 1931 embezzlement scandal article in 2018.
The bank sits at the corner of Main Street and Hartford Avenue. Julie Pruett Bishop noted the photographer must have been standing about where Church Street intersects with Hartford Avenue, looking back toward Main Street.
Centerburg history maven Gloria Parsisson contributed a photograph of a Civil War reunion parade in Centerburg from 1909, just six years after the Savings Bank was built. The pyramidal steps are there, third tree in, confirming the bank connection. But Gloria points out that a comparison of the trees in the 1909 photo to our mystery postcard shows that the trees have grown considerably in our postcard picture.
John Deever, Michelle Italia Walker, Jeff Kettell, and Joe Forster examined the picture closely for signs of electricity and/or light posts, though the focus is grainy enough that, literally, nothing is clear, though the apparent glint of sunlight off wires does align with the wires seen on poles in a second picture that Gloria contributed.
This picture, which dates from somewhere between 1909 and 1917, is centered on the Livery and Feed store, which is the building the woman in our mystery photo is passing as she walks north toward Main Street. Whether the lines are power lines or telegraph/telephone wires, I don’t know, but they are definitely there in there in this photo.
In 1917, a two-story house was moved to the spot between the livery store and the bank. It appears to be there in our postcard picture, confirming a date after 1917.
Don Hilton was of the opinion that the vehicle was a wagon, citing the diagonal line in front of it as a possible tongue waiting for a horse or horses to be hooked up. Gloria thought it was a Model T truck and that the diagonal line was its hand crank.
I think Don may be correct, though, because a comparison with the Google Maps image of the same spot today confirms that the vehicle is sitting some distance down the street. The hand crank would be virtually invisible from this distance. Additionally, it looks like the back wheels of the vehicle are larger than the front, something often seen on wagons, but not as often on early vehicles.
Don also pointed out that the man’s clothes — belt, attached shirt collar — strongly places him in the 1920s or later. His proud smile suggests to me that he was the proprietor of the shop. An earlier shopkeeper wouldn’t have allowed himself to be photographed in such clothes.
Meanwhile, the woman in the background is definitely wearing an old-fashioned long dress, that may simply reflect her age and/or taste.
Sue VanWinkle Mattinson pointed out that the tracks of unpaved Hartford Avenue are considerably wider than the narrow wheel width of our vehicle. That leads toward the assumption of a latter date, where cars with tires would have broadened wagon ruts.
Wagons were still used in the era before World War II, and only became rare relics of the past after the war, when the United States’ expanded manufacturing capabilities made automobiles, trucks, and tractors affordable, replacing horses in rural life.
All these clues point to a date somewhere around 1930 for the postcard image. Google Maps is still using a street view from 2008, where there is a grand old tree in front of the building (26 S. Hartford Ave.) that was once the livery store. In the postcard, our woman in the long dress has just walked past that tree, which while younger, was already well established.
A current satellite image of Centerburg shows that the tree is now gone, having had a good run of over a century.
Oh, and last but not least, Sandi Dunphy pointed out that I completely blew the headline by omitting the ‘t’ in “Hartford.” A swing and a miss! Thanks for the correction, which we promptly updated.
But thanks to all, for these contributions have helped us narrow down the timeframe of this image. Unfortunately, either the numbering of Centerburg’s streets has changed between 1930 and now, or no one resided at the business where the man is standing (36 S. Hartford Ave.), for nothing is listed on the 1930 census.
So, for now, the mystery of who he is remains just that: a mystery.
