Main St., New Hartford, Conn. 50.

Main St., New Hartford, Conn. 50.

View showing an intersection with older commercial buildings in a small downtown. Both streets drop down into a river valley out of sight, while a wooded hillside rises steeply just beyond. A few pedestrians are visible. 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 sent back to Belfast, Maine, and processed into postcards at the printing plant on High Street. A large, ca. 1900 wood frame gambrel-roofed commercial building dominates the corner where Bridge Street runs down off of Main. A number of earlier Victorian commercial structures line the block farther down. An interesting note is that all the structures have covered second-story balconies that overhang the sidewalk, a distinguishing feature of New Hartford's business district. Cars and truck are parked at the curb and also seemingly willy-nilly.