1910s

Brattleboro, Vermont (3)

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Looking north from the corner of Main & Canal Streets in Brattleboro, Vermont, around 1917. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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The scene in 2014:

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Taken from across the street from the photos in this post, the 1917 scene shows some of the industrial development along the Whetstone Brook near its confluence with the Connecticut River just to the east (right) of this scene. Many of the buildings still exist, with the oldest one in this scene being the 1850 Van Doorn/Culver Block, in the foreground with the tall gabled roof.

The top photo is part of a panoramic view; the other parts can be viewed here:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 4

Brattleboro, Vermont (2)

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Facing northwest from the corner of Main & Canal Streets in Brattleboro, Vermont, around 1917. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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The scene in 2014:

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The building in the right-center of these two photos is the Wilder Building, which was built in 1875.  It is at the southern end of Main Street, and is directly adjacent to the Whetstone Brook.  In 2004, the top two floors of the building were heavily damaged by a fire, but the historic building was able to be restored, and today it continues to be used for mixed-use residential and commercial purposes.  Further up Main Street to the right is the 1936 Latchis Hotel, which replaced the three-story commercial building in the 1917 photo.  On the far right is the Barber Building, located at the corner of Main Street and Flat Street.  It was built in 1915, so it was brand new in the 1917 photo, and today it is home to Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters.

The top photo is part of a panoramic view; the other parts can be viewed here:

Part 1
Part 3
Part 4

Brattleboro, Vermont (1)

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Brattleboro, Vermont, facing east from the corner of Main and Canal Streets around 1917. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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The scene in 2014:

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The 1917 photo provides an interesting contrast between old and new, with horse-drawn carriages making their way up and down Canal Street to the left, and modern automobiles parked in front of the Hoadley Hotel to the right.  All of the buildings are now gone, and today the site is home to the Brattleboro Food Co-op.

The top photo is part of a panoramic view; the other parts can be viewed here:

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Public Garden Incline, Boston (2)

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Trolleys at the Public Garden Incline at the corner of Boylston and Arlington Streets in Boston, around 1910-1911. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The scene in 2014:

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These were taken from near the location of the photos in this post, showing trolleys entering and emerging from the Tremont Street Subway onto Boylston Street.  The car on the right-hand side is returning from Brookline Village, and the one on the left is heading toward Huntington Avenue, along the modern-day E Branch of the Green Line.  This car is particularly intriguing, because one of the flyers on the front reads “Baseball to-day American League Huntington Avenue,” The exact date of this photo isn’t clear, and the Library of Congress estimates that it was taken between 1910 and 1920, but this little flyer indicates that it couldn’t have been any later than 1911, the last year that the Red Sox played at Huntington Avenue before moving to Fenway Park.  Many of the people on the trolley are probably fans heading to the game, and will likely see future Red Sox legends such Smoky Joe Wood, Tris Speaker, and Harry Hooper.  Today, Red Sox fans still travel along this route to get to the game, although the incline that the trolleys once emerged from has been closed for a century, and no evidence remains on the surface that it ever existed.

Tremont Street, Boston

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Looking up Tremont Street toward Beacon Street, with the Granary Burying Ground to the left, taken around 1910. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The scene in 2014:

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This section of Tremont Street actually hasn’t changed much – the Granary Burying Ground is essentially the same, and a few of the buildings are still there, including the massive Tremont Building.  Built in 1895 on the site of the Tremont House hotel, the office building still looks much the same as it did over 100 years ago.

Massachusetts State House, Boston

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The Massachusetts State House, with a Beacon Street house being demolished in the foreground.  Photo taken January 27, 1917 by Lewis Wickes Hine of the National Child Labor Committee, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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The scene in 2014:

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The Massachusetts State House was built in 1798, but has been expanded several times over the years.  An 1895 expansion was built behind the original building, and in 1917 the east and west wings were added (east wings visible on the right-hand side of both photos).  The west wing, however, required the demolition of a number of houses on Beacon Street, Joy Place, and Mount Vernon Place, and the elimination of Hancock Avenue altogether.

One of the demolished buildings can be seen here in the first photo.  In this particular scene, Lewis Wickes Hine captures workers, including young children, bringing wood home, presumably to use for firewood on what was probably a chilly late January day.