The Original Time Machine
Click on the map icon under each photo to see the approximate location.
The earliest residents were the Nipmuc, or "Small Pond People". They had a well-developed agriculture, made tools, and had a graphite mine at Sturbridge. Northbridge was first settled by Europeans in 1704 and was officially incorporated on July 14, 1772. The town was once part of Mendon, from 1667 to 1726, and part of Uxbridge, from 1727 to 1772. Colonel John Spring, who had agitated for the new town of Northbridge, and later reversed his position, led a company of men in the Massachusetts Militia in the Revolution. Dozens of local men fought at the Lexington alarm, and at Bunker Hill. Samuel Spring, John's son, became a Revolutionary War Chaplain commissioned in the militia at the Siege of Boston, and who also served in the Invasion of Canada (1775) under Colonel Benedict Arnold. Samuel carried Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr, his Princeton classmate, off of separate battlefields. Colonel Seth Read and his brother, Colonel Joseph Read owned more than half of the land in this town at the time of the American Revolutionary War. They both fought in the Massachusetts Militia, and the Continental Army. The mother of President Millard Fillmore, Phoebe Millard (Fillmore), was born in Northbridge. Ezra Taft Benson, Sr., a famous Mormon pioneer, lived here from 1830 to 1832 on his sisters farm. He married Pamela Andrus, of Northbridge, and also apparently her sister, Adeline Brooks Andrus.[2] He then married six more times and served as a missionary to the Sandwich Islands, and in the Utah Territorial Legislature. -Wikipedia
Northbridge
The Linwood Mill in Northbridge, MA from an old postcard and a photo taken on 3/29/11. The mill is in use today and there are plans to convert a portion of it to apartments.
This is the Civil War Memorial at the Northbridge Town Common. It's located where Linwood Ave and Church St merge to form Main St. The old photo is around 1940. The new photo is from April 2011.
There's quite a bit of change in this shot. This is taken on Church Street in Whitinsville. In the old photo, Lynch's drug store is on the corner. It's now a parking lot. The trolley tracks are long gone and someone stuck a light pole in the middle of the road!
The Grammar School in Northbridge, MA. This was the first high school. Today it is used as the Town Hall Annex. The position of the photographer is a little off since the original was standing in the street. The new picture was taken from the traffic island.
These photos are on Highland Street in Northbridge. The original was taken by my father in the late 30's. He was standing in front of my grandfather's house looking towards Benson Road. The only recognizable thing is the white house. The road was much narrower then.
The original photo was also taken by my father after that same snow storm. This shows my grandfather shoveling out. No snowblowers then! This house was built around 1875.
This is the first one where I took both pictures. The old one was around 1970. I have improved this with a second try. But I'm still not happy with it. Notice that the door at the right edge of the barn is no longer there. It looks as though a section of the barn has been cut off. The box seen in the old photo is the one I used for my paper route. The papers were dropped off there for me to deliver.
It is so hard to gain the proper perspective. I carry my iPhone with me, which has copies of the old photos on it. I can look at the old photo while lining up the new shot. Even with that, it is hard to get the exact footprint of the original. In this case, I would have to stand in the middle of a bush to get the correct image. The old photo was taken in 1949. There's quite a change in the 62 years.
More to come.
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