Main Street, White, South Dakota

If there's a place in the mid-west the epitomizes "out in the middle of nowhere", it's the lovely town of White, South Dakota. Stuck over on the eastern-most side of the state, White (today) covers 0.99 square miles with a few houses, several churches, an ag coop and a bustling population of 491 people. It was founded in 1884, and named after W. H. White, the area's first settler.

Our photo is a real-photo postcard (AZO 4-triangles-up, a code on the back meaning that the paper was produced sometime between 1904 and 1918), and someone took the time to note that the it was taken on Hallowe'en. The view is looking east along unpaved Main Street, and not a single automobile is in sight, everything is still horse-drawn.

The oddest part, though, is the large harvester parked on the street.

And hiding in the shadows is an old horse-drawn rake.

Here's a Google Maps view of White....just not much there!

Our House - 10

Down on the farm - Horse Power

In the days when it took a lot of man- (and horse) power to bring in the harvest, a farmer's neighbors could be counted on to show up with their teams of horses to help out. Is that what this photo shows? Or is this just a bigger operation with a lot of hands employed? Either way, it looks like this crew is getting ready to do some serious work.

Life at Moriards Hotel

This photo has been a bit of a challenge, to be sure. It appears to be a hotel or boarding house in the late 1800s, and there's no accompanying information as to where it is.

What struck me, though, was that for such an evidently popular place, there didn't seem to be a sign advertising the place, not even anything in the windows. As I stared at a very high-resolution scan of the print, I realized, though, that there was some writing present: the blank area between the first and second floor windows on the front seems to be a slightly brighter white, and there is evidence of very, very faint writing. So I re-loaded the image into Photoshop and started to work at enhancing the area. The results are on the right.

The difficulty is in making out the first letter. Discounting the first letter for the moment, there are at least five variations that are legitimate names: Boriards, Goriards, Horiards, Moriards, Poriards. Based on what I can discern of the first letter, my money is on Horiards or Moriards, and I'm favoring the latter.

Mabel and Irene's Buggy Ride

Behind this very handsome horse ride Mavel and Irene. Hand-written on the back of the photo is this: "Mabel and Irene at the soldier's camp early in the morning." Unfortunately, which camp this would be is forever lost.

Down on the Farm - Grampa's Horses

This little girl, I wonder if years later she thought about those days on Grampa's farm with his horses, how big and strong they were. I wonder if she looked back on those days as magical, from a different era, when the world was a simpler place. The tack indicates that these horses were set up to pull a wagon.

Gothenburg Businessman and his Rig

This photo comes from a larger collection all centered on the Nebraska town of Gothenburg, taken in the 1915 to 1919 timeframe (much more from this collection to come). This guy appears to be a gentlman of means, so it is a bit surprising to me that he's riding around in such a rig, instead of one of the new horseless carriages!

Six Mountain Men and their Dog

There is something very "old west" about this photo - six men and two mules posing, probably at the start of a journey for at least a couple of them, the guy on the far left and the man at the right holding the mules lead would be my guess.

At first glance when I found this, I thought it might be some outlaw gang...but what self-respecting outlaw would ride around on a mule? Maybe they are trappers, or prospectors, but the lack of tools makes me scratch my head. I'm open to suggestions, though. The pine tree in the background and seeming hillside drop-off at the far right make this appear to be a cabin of some sort, one that seems well-stocked with wood for a long winter.

Below, I've cropped and enhanced each of the men, on the off-chance that someone might recognize one of them, or note some detail that I've missed. The guy on the left is one who it seems to me is leaving, because of both his jacket and the rifle at his feet (anyone recognize that rifle?), one of only two weapons or tools visible. The guy on the right reminds me a little of Mr. Edwards from the old Little House on the Prairie TV series.

The guy on the left is the one that intrigues me the most. Maybe it has something to do with his hat and pipe...he looks almost "outlawish". I'm not sure of the significance of the rope he's holdng. Behind him, a blanket covers most of the mule's load, but a small hand-axe can be seen.

The man on the right has an almost scholarly look about him, making him appear maybe a bit out-of-place.

History Mystery Saturday: What Are They Building?

I find this photograph to be very intriguing. Construction techniques and civil engineering have come so far in the modern era that it's fun to look at how things used to be. But beyond the fascinating indivudual elements in this photo is the question of what is actually being built? If you have a thought, please comment below!

First off, the final shape of the construction seems to be cylindrical, as can be seen behind the lower portion of the structure. This would suggest a silo. However, the grates at the lower left suggest that these might be waterways, and that combined with the earthmoving going on in the left background suggests to me that this might be one of the core parts of a dam being built before the actual dam is built around it.

Below, since all the heavy equipment in the day was steam powered, cartfuls of coal were needed to stoke the fires. In the background of this crop appears to be a steam-powered concrete mixer.

From the output of the mixer, three cement carts can be seen sitting on a make-shift bridge leading to the project.

A large steam shovel - looking more like a building than a piece of movable equipment - works at digging.

A Buggy

Because everyone needs to take a photograph of their new buggy, right?

Since there was a question about the bit on one of the Facebook groups this post was shared on, here's a higher res scan:

At the Lumber Mill

This is a downright fascinating photograph. It appears to be in logging country (rather large trunks on the wagon), and is presumably a lumber mill...given all the cut lumber on the far right. What I find curious is the presence of two women and a little girl (and her rather large doll).

Now that's a doll!

White shoes? In that environment??

Dashing Through the Snow...

...in a two-horse open sled? Well, that's not quite how the song is supposed to go. At any rate, it was a very cold day when this photo was shot, with a family posing in their (presumably) sled. I thought it'd be a good one for a modern Christmas day post!

The photographer must have been shivering, because the photo isn't terribly clear. I've tried to figure out what's written on the side of the sled; it's either the brand of the sled, or the owner's business. The first word appears to be "New", but the rest is indecipherable to me. If you have any ideas, please comment below!

Wheatley Flour Mill

For today, this blog should be called "Lost Canada Found". We are very fortunate that an anonymous someone chose to write some information on the back of this photograph, so that we know that this was taken in Wheatley, Ontario on September 12, 1899.

The original albumen print is extremely faded, but a trip through
Adobe Camera Raw's tools recovered a lot of detail.

Wheatley is a small community of about 3,000 people located on the shore of Lake Erie, just a few miles southeast of Detroit, Michigan.

The text handwritten on the back of the photograph reads:

This "chop & grist" mill is located in Wheatley, Ontario, and was once owned by my grandfather and father (Daniel and William Omstead). They also owned a famr a mile distant. This mill was sold and the mill in Comber purchased in 1903.

I was fortunate to be able to get ahold of Linda Pearce, a member of the Heritage Society in Wheatley, who sent me a clipping on the mill which reads:

The Wheatley Flour Mill was built around 1880 on the east side of Wheatley. Dan Omstead was the owner of the mill in the 1890s. He produced very fine flour at the mill. In 1899 he sold it to Mr. Vizzard. Mr. Wemp owned it next. Cameron Whitesell bought it from Mr. Wemp in 1921.

Engines were changed from natural gas to electric by John Dean in July 1930. The gas engines had exploded, causing a fire, in 1929. Around 1941 he tore down the old mill, built the new one with his own design and set up all his machinery and elevators.

At the back of the old mill they had built a pig pen and hen house where they experimented with their own [feed] formulas. Later they marketed Whitesell's Big 18% laying mash. The formula was made up and tried by Russell Whitesell. When the new mill was made over, they incorporated the existing pig pen and hen house into it.

He sold the mill in 1952 to Mr. Roy Bowman.

A search of several genealogy sites suggests that Daniel Omstead (alternately listed as Olmstead) was born in 1844 and died in Wheatley in November, 1924, an date range which fits the date of the photograph.

Here's a link to Google Maps showing the current location of the Wheatley Grain Elevator, presumably the former site of our photo.

Painted on the side of the building appears to read "Wheatley Flour Mills"

Small Town Traffic Jam

Who said traffic jams were just a modern, big-city experience? This sleepy little town seems to have one, too. This is a fairly faded, small image from around the turn of the 20th century, and I've enhanced the contrast and detail a bit to make it more visible.

Any ideas what this sign says?

The actual faded version of this small print

Till Thomason Goes to Town

For the month's first #TBT, we look back to life before cars!

In 1916, automobiles were starting to make their presence felt in some places, but in others, if you were going to take your gal to town, as Till seems to be doing, a horse and fine buggy are the only way to travel. So, as you contemplate going on a date with you sweetheart this weekend, keep in mind how nice it is not to have to deal with hitching up the buggy, or any of the other tasks associated with horse-powered transportation!

Little (School) House on the Prairie

The next time your kids complain about the school they have to go to - and how they have to get there - show them this photo from the early 1900s:

I have absolutely no information on where this photo was taken. Maybe that's a good thing, in a way, because it makes the wondering about the scene and about the lives of these children even more intriguing.