From collection Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
Searsport, Maine 219
The photo shows a dirt road lined with telephone poles on the rural outskirts of town. There is a newer, early 20th century house on the right, and a mid-19th century farmhouse with connected backbuildings on the left. There is a good view of a wooden sidewalk on the right. The presence of the telephone poles denotes the recent availability of phone service in the outlying areas of town at the time the picture was taken, perhaps part of the "Farmers' Line", which "served the rural areas until 1920." The New England Telephone and Telegraph Co. first brought service to 16 customer-subscribers in Searsport, probably in the center of town, in 1900. [ref. "A Touch of Searsport's History" by Catherine M. Andrews]
