Elks Home, Bristol Conn, 107.

Elks Home, Bristol Conn, 107.

View of a stately house with a Classical facade, back ell, and Victorian tower. 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. We don't know whether it was the presence of a fraternal organization or its striking architectural character that caused the Eastern photographer to stop and take this picture. It appears that the Elks had purchased and converted what was once likely the residence of a wealthy family into its lodge.