Searsport, Maine 214

Searsport, Maine 214

This view of Main Street provides a candid view, probably on a hot, dry summer day, of a moment when the street was being hosed down to reduce dust from passing traffic. A man stands in the middle of the street spraying water in the direction of the photographer, while another spray emits from a source out of the frame on the right. Other townspeople are out as well, some watching. A man drives a horse and carriage past Havener's Cigar and Tobacco store. Beyond him the Searsport Savings Bank and towers of the Searsport House are visible. The photo includes a view into the residential neighborhood across the mill stream in the dip farther west on Main Street. On the right the wood plank sidewalk passes storefronts hung with canvas awnings to keep the south sun out of the shops. A boy in a shirt and tie and knickers shakes out a piece of material. The image takes in the granite post-and-lintel storefronts, the relatively new mess of telephone poles and lines, and the large trees still standing in this ca. 1910 scene.