Cote Block, Baltic, Conn. 14.

Cote Block, Baltic, Conn. 14.

View of a late 19th century commercial block front and unpaved street in a small town. Trolley tracks are visible in the dirt street; possibly these connected the village of Baltic to the nearby city of Norwich. This image is part of a series made by one of the three Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company photographers assigned to cover New England or upstate New York. The quest for images that would be saleable as postcards resulted in the documentation of small towns and small town life at the turn of the 20th century. As the photos were shot, the glass plates were promptly sent back to Belfast, Maine, and processed into postcards at the printing plant on High Street. This view in the center of the small downtown of Baltic shows the Town Hall at the left, and a Victorian blockfront including the Post Office and various retail enterprises. The front curve of the Roderick Block, a flatiron-style brick Victorian building, is visible at the right, where the street forks at an acute angle. Other shops visible in the Cote Building are Drescher's Garage and a Meat Market. Above, woven bamboo shades are pulled down to screen the building's upper-story porches from the sun.