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Circa 1905. "Main Street in Keene, New Hampshire." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
Based on the apparent sag of the streetcar catenary wire, I'll bet that this was taken on a warm day. Modern systems employ a constant-tension system and have much less droop in hot weather.
At 172 feet, the widest paved main street in the United States is in Keene (pop. 22,563).
My mom would always tell me how Grandpa would run out and gather it up for the garden.
Such an idyllic scene until I noticed technology creeping in - the trolley tracks, the street lined with poles, and the tangled wires above the street. Each advance was surely welcomed by the people but looking back at it now the "simple life" was fleeting.
Possibly at the intersection of Railroad and Main, as the right turn up ahead doesn't appear to matched by a left turn across the road (which would be Glibo). So that's probably Church Street, with Central Square up ahead and the steeple of the United Church of Christ in the background.
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