Up for close inspection is a nice photograph of Watkins Glen State Park main entrance from the 1920s. I purchased a set of 8 1/2 x 6 1/2″ glass plate negatives off eBay, which included 11 images of the park, this one was probably the first picture, or the last, the others show landmarks along the way up.
I have a post card of this scene from the same period, and the post card bears a striking resemblance to our image below; tree branches, vines and the leaves in the upper right corner; however, I think the post card is a drawing rather than a hand colored photograph as the the view is slightly wider, the wires are missing, and it looks like the flag pole has been added. Obviously both were produced at nearly the same time and position.
Interesting features include a ‘caution blow horn’ sign; you don’t see those anymore thankfully! The building on the extreme right is still there and now a gift shop. I can’t make out the words on the bronze plaque over each sitting area, but I’ll guess they’re probably dedicating the place as an historic preservation and State Park in 1906.
The image below (7500 pixels wide) has not been cropped or photoshopped other than my watermark through the middle. The quality and resolution of the roughly 90 year old image would rival any digital camera of today. More than likely an ortho type plate was used (not red sensitive) as the green shadows are tamed well, and the blue sky is mostly white.
Click yellow button for full size version.
Post card from the 1920s.
Hope you enjoyed this peak at the past, I’ll post a few more from the series in the future.