Discoveries in the Darkroom: Market St., West Chester, PA
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 | Uncategorized
Looking west on Market St., at the intersection of High St., West Chester, PA
It was exciting to see this view emerge from the gurgling print washer - an early 20th century view of Market Street at the intersection of High Street in West Chester, taken by an unidentified photographer. This central intersection has been photographed countless times, but I have never seen this angle before. What is fascinating about this photograph is the wealth of detail. I am hoping these minute details will provide a solid date for the image.
To start, lets look at the buildings. We see the Chester County Courthouse at the center of the photograph with the Courthouse Annex designed by architect T. Roney Williamson in 1891. On the left is the six-story Farmer’s and Mechanics Bank building (known as the F & M building) which was completed in 1907; and the historic Turk’s Head Inn is on the corner to the right.
The trolley tracks of the West Chester Street Railway pulls our vision into the center of the photograph. Not only are the sidewalks paved of brick, so were these main streets! Notice that there are no traffic signals at the intersection!
Other wonderful details emerge telling us how people communicated at that time. On the window of the F & M building is a sign for the Western Union Telegraph Company. Sending a telegram from this office will send a message boy in some distant city scrambling off to deliver it by bicycle or on foot. For less urgent mail you could use the postal letter box seen on the left on the support for the shed roof. On the far right on one of the posts of the Turk’s Head Inn is a Bell Telephone Booth sign. Always keep a nickle handy to make a call.
Detail, monument and Cafe sign
Now let’s look at some details that further define a date. The presence of the cannons and Old Glory statue on the courthouse lawn brings us up to 1915. You can even see the sundial on the south side of the courthouse. What I found curious was the electrified Turk’s Head Inn Cafe sign on the corner.
According to CCHS’ newspaper clippings file, the Turk’s Head Inn Cafe first opened on October 14, 1915. Proprietor Morris Sellers offered a club breakfast or business men’s lunch for 25 cents and a full course dinner for 50 cents. His advertisement guaranteed “Polite and Competent Help.”
Business was good for Sellers until the impact of World War I was felt locally. In an article from the Daily Local News dated July 12, 1918, Sellers closed the Turk’s Head Inn, due to the high cost of food and a wartime prohibition. Howard K. Moses purchased the business in October of 1918 and reopened it as a “dry” hotel.
The newspaper clippings on the Turk’s Head Inn are a great source for finding some detail to help fix a date on the photo. A clipping dated March 11,1927 from the Daily Local News reports that the old maple trees on the Market St. side of the hotel are to be cut down and the brick sidewalk is to be replaced with concrete. This is a clue that the photo was taken before 1927.
Detail, observe woman's dress
Another great clue to dating photos is costume. I was very curious about the woman’s dress; unfortunately the image is not entirely sharp. It looks like the woman is wearing a dress with a dropped waistline, which would place the photo in the 1920s.
Hemlines in the 1920s went through a rapid evolution. Early in the decade hems were just below the calf. In 1925-26 hems rose to higher on the calf , just below the knee. Prehaps this fashion was too high for the sensibility of most people and the hemlines fell before the stockmarket crashed. The hemline on this woman’s dress looks like it could fall into that 1925-26 time period.
What other details could establish a solid date? Automobiles are a great tool, and here again we see some curious details. On the left side of the street two cars and a truck are parked, but the auto in the center looks very different from the typical construction. Look at the difference in the hood.
Detail, automobiles are great tools for dating photographs
My thesis is that this is an electric car. After a short search on Google, the auto in question looks very similar to models made by Baker Motor Vehicle Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. According to old advertisements posted on the web, the autos were marketed for women, the selling point being that they started by simply turning a key, no messy hand cranking. The vehicle ran for about 100 miles on alkaline batteries.
I invite your comments and further information on this car. Maybe we will have a firm date for this photo yet! Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist
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1 Comment to Discoveries in the Darkroom: Market St., West Chester, PA
Thanks go to Mr. John Fleming who identified the automobile shown in the center of the detail photograph as being a ca. 1914 Detroit Electric. He also said that the truck shown behind it is also an electric used in cities for delivery!
July 27, 2010