Main St., South Otselic, N.Y. 2.

Main St., South Otselic, N.Y. 2.

View of a broad dirt street in the small commercial center of a village. The vantage point is in shade where the road crosses a stream. Three-story mid 19th-century frame commercial buildings stand at the left and center, with a few early automobiles and a horse and wagon parked along the curb. A tree-shaded street at the right leads into a residential area. This image is part of a series made by one of the three Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company photographers assigned to New England or upstate New York. The glass plates would be sent back to Belfast, Maine, and processed into postcards at the printing plant on High Street. At the left, a group of men sit on the front porch of The Otselic Valley Inn, sharing conversation while keeping an eye on the scene in the center of the village. At the back of the picture is The Opera Hall, which houses a meat market and a retail space a few steps up from the street level. A horse hitched to a wagon waits outside. A sign for "Birch Hut" - perhaps advertising lodging - hangs at the right. As with many of these Eastern postcard images, the scene reflects a time when the gas engine was slowly replacing horse powered transportation.