The view of Easthampton from Mount Tom, between 1900 and 1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The scene in 2019:
Not much has changed in Easthampton in 100 years, at least nothing that it particularly noticeable from the summit of Mount Tom. President William McKinley would’ve seen a very similar view during his visit in 1899, but another famous visitor to the mountain, Jonathan Edwards, would’ve seen a very different view in the 1730s.
Cape Neddick “Nubble” Light, as it appeared between 1900 and 1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The same scene in 2011:
Not much has changed in 100 years; the 1879 lighthouse, keepers house, and outbuildings remain as they were in the early 1900’s, and the rocks clearly haven’t gone anywhere either. The only significant changes are the enclosed walkway between the house and tower, and demolition of the bell tower seen to the right of the lighthouse in the old photo. On a curious note, the Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, carries several photographs of notable man-made structures in the event that it should ever be discovered by extraterrestrials, including the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, and this lighthouse.
The view of Long Sands Beach in York, Maine, between 1900 and 1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
In 2011:
The landscape hasn’t changed much – not many of the present-day buildings are readily identifiable in the early 20th century photo, but in either case the style of buildings hasn’t changed much in the past 100 years. A few buildings that definitely do still exist are the cottages on the bluff on the far right hand side of the old photo. Although this area is outside the frame of the 2011 photo, other photos of the area show that those buildings are still there.
The view of Cape Neddick from Long Sands Beach in York, Maine, between 1890 and 1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The same view in 2011:
In the past 100 years, Cape Neddick went from being almost deserted, to being covered with vacation homes. The only readily-identifiable structure in both photos is the Cape Neddick “Nubble” Lighthouse, located at the end of the peninsula on a small, rocky island known as the Nubble. However, with close examination, at least one of the cottages from the old photograph still exists – the one with the tower in the center of the roof on the far-left side of the photo.
The view of the White House, as seen from the top of the Washington Monument between 1906 and 1915. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The scene in 1945. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection.
The same view in 2021:
Unlike the view looking slightly northwest of here, there have not been many dramatic changes between these three photos. The White House is there, as are the two wings (although both the main building and the wings have been extensively gutted and remodeled in the intervening century), and the Old Executive Office Building (left of the White House) and the Treasury Building (right of the White House) are still there, as are the landscaping features such as the Ellipse in the foreground. Otherwise, the appearance of the city, given skyscrapers are not permitted, remains much the same as it did 100 years ago.
The view from the top of the Washington Monument, taken between 1906 and 1915. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The scene in 1945. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection.
The same view in 2021:
All three of these photos are taken looking almost directly down Virginia Ave., but other than the street network, not much remains from the early 1900s photo. As least two buildings are identifiable in both that photo and the 2021 scene: the white building in the lower right, and the building to the right of it (which is barely visible in the first photo). They are the Organization of American States and the Daughters of the American Revolution buildings, respectively.
Otherwise, the area looks remarkably sparse in the first photo, primarily because most of the land in the foreground did not exist before the 1880s, when the Potomac River was dredged, and the dredged material used to fill in this area to address flooding issues. The Constitution Gardens, visible in the lower left of the 2021 photo, would not exist for another 70 years. Shortly after the first photo was taken, the Navy built temporary offices during World War I. These “temporary” offices, which are shown in the 1945 photo, lasted into the 1970s, when they were demolished to create the pond and parkland visible today.