Snow-covered street with trees on each side
This undated vintage photograph from around the turn of the nineteenth into the twentieth century shows East Vine Street in Mount Vernon after a snow. Though details are covered by trees, it appears to align with a spot between Gay and McKenzie Streets. Credit: Knox Time Collection

History Knox

Mark Sebastian Jordan's History Knox column is published each Saturday at Knox Pages, reflecting on the county's legacy.

MOUNT VERNON — For the weekend before Christmas, here’s a snowy scene from Mount Vernon’s past.

This vintage postcard from the Knox Time Collection shows East Vine Street after a snow that has clung to every surface.

While the photo is undated, the horse and buggy suggest it is most likely from the 1890s or early 1900s.

Also note that street lamp hanging over the roadway. Is that possibly a gas light fixture?

It’s tricky identifying the exact spot the photo was taken, but based on the bank on the left side of the picture, with steps leading up to houses, that it most closely matches the stretch of East Vine Street between Gay and McKenzie Streets.

This Google Maps image of East Vine Street from about a decade ago shows the potential site for comparison.

The road had more trees at the time of the photo, blocking potential comparison, but there is a dark building close to the street on the right side.

Might that be part of the Vine Street Church of Christ? It’s hard to make out enough detail to prove it for certain, but the stairs across the street do correspond to some of the two level concrete or stone stairs that lead up to the houses on the rise across from the church today.

If the spot were just slightly further west, closer to Gay Street, a wall would be visible supporting the earthen bank that the steps go up, but that is not visible in the photo.

However, the steepness of the bank in the photo does match the stretch of street where the small wall now is.

Is it possible that the wall was added later than the photo? It is fully possible that a wall was added later, and has still been around for over 100 years.

The wall stops just before the church, but that is also where the bank becomes lower. Thus, it’s hard to confirm that this is the same spot.

If that is the location, the next few houses on the right are gone now, providing the parking lot in use today between the church and Dove Dentistry.

Whatever the case, this was far too beautiful a picture to not share as a holiday treat!