Let’s research this 1903 photograph to see what we can learn
Taken Oct. 12, 1903
I recently acquired this sepia-toned print mounted on a gray card. The condition isn’t great. It’s a bit faded and the mounting board is torn. But the scene was interesting enough that it caught my attention.
When I examine antique photographs like this one, I always look for clues as to what’s going on in the scene. Why was it taken? What is the location? Who is it? Who was the photographer?
It portrays a candid street scene, probably made around the turn of the century, based on the style of the clothing, and it’s obvious that there’s a lot of water in the streets. But in this case, we have another very valuable clue.
On the back, someone has written in pencil the words: “Taken Oct. 12, 1903.”
A quick Internet search for towns that were flooded on October 12, 1903 revealed some locations. On October 9, 1903, a tropical storm hit the east coast of the U.S. and there were many floods along the eastern seaboard. Many of the search results pulled up stories from one location — the Passaic River flood in Patterson, New Jersey.
I found historic photographs of the Passaic Flood of 1903, and then began looking for clues as to whether this photograph could have been made in Paterson, N.J.
At the Library of Congress, I found a digitized version of the document, “The Passaic Flood of 1903” by Marshall Ora Leighton. Inside there are a number of images from the Passaic flood, including this one. The photograph above shows silk manufacturing mills along the Passaic River at Patterson.
They resemble the mills in the background of our street scene.
Looks very similar to the photograph of the Paterson mills. Of course, only a single smokestack is visible in our image while there are two in the reference photo, and I can’t explain that unless the other one is somehow out of frame here.
I examined other contemporary street photographs of Paterson, and found other similarities, like the electric street lights.
Sadly, I didn’t learn anything about the photographer, or the anonymous people sen in the photo, and I may never know for certain that my research is accurate, but I feel pretty confident that this is a photograph of the 1903 Passaic River flood in Paterson.
Sources and Links
Library of Congress. “Ellison St., Paterson [New Jersey].” Bain News Service. 1900. https://www.loc.gov/resource/ggbain.00235/
Library of Congress. “The Passaic flood of 1903.” Leighton, Marshall Ora. Washington, Gov’t print. off., 1904.
https://lccn.loc.gov/05001146
National ParksService. “Paterson, New Jersey: America’s Silk City (Teaching with Historic Places).” https://www.nps.gov/articles/paterson-new-jersey-america-s-silk-city-teaching-with-historic-places.htm
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