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Littleton, New Hampshire, circa 1907. "Northern Hotel and post office block." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Burned down in 1924. Looks almost brand new in the photo.
Of this block. All I could recognize were the two buildings down the street on the right.
These photos from the first decade of the 20th century show how quickly our great-grandparents adopted electrical power and telephones - despite a total lack of infrastructure and limited appliances. We even see a few motor vehicles. Can paved roads be far behind? Actually, yes.
Today, we think the emergence of a new social website is a significant achievement. Just think of what it took to bring electricity and phones to a Littleton. My admiration is for an earlier generation.
One set of poles to support telephone, telegraph, and power lines, with the power lines at the lowest level, made the phone/telegraph lineman's job REALLY interesting, I'll bet.
Across the street, the combination pool room and shooting gallery must have caused a lot of scratches.
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