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Circa 1906. "Residence of Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee Institute, Alabama." Detroit Publishing Company glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.
about the labor that went into constructing that picket fence; then the amount of work it involved to paint it!
Calling Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn!
An even more obvious gate giveaway is the fact that the pickets in that section of fence don't reach the ground.
A double gate at the drive is evidenced by the bracing seen behind the palings. There is probably another double gate at the other end of the arcing drive. The fencing around the trees are to protect them from bark nibbling animals such as horses and mules and maybe even a goat pulling a wagon.
I've noticed that many of the early 1900s towns have rather heavy-duty guarding structures placed around the street trees often extending to 6-7 feet above ground. Was this to protect the trees from horses, people, or cars? You don't see these today, at least not such massive ones.
But I do think I see (or maybe hear) some Green Onions.
Notice that the white picket fence has no break or gate for the driveway (or anywhere else, for that matter.) How was one supposed to get from the street to the house?
[There is a gate. - Dave]
Two utility poles with no apparent connection between them, and no sign of a power line to Booker T's house. Not only that, where are his MGs?
[Booker's house has lines coming in both from the right and the left -- you can see the insulators on the porch roof. I wouldn't expect there to be any connection between the tall telephone pole and short utility pole, which is a street light. - Dave]
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