Halfway Brook Bridge

by Louise Smith Posted on July 26, 2022

Halfway Brook Bridge between Eldred and Barryville, 1906.
Halfway Brook Bridge between Eldred and Barryville, 1906.

The iron bridge over Halfway Brook; view above the dam, Barryville, 1911.
The iron bridge over Halfway Brook; view above the dam, Barryville, 1911.

The Bridge above the Blue House, Halfway Brook Road, Barryville, 1911.
The Bridge above the Blue House, Halfway Brook Road, Barryville, 1911.

Halfway Brook Falls, Barryville, 1911.
Halfway Brook Falls, Barryville, 1911.

The Cable Bridge, Halfway Brook, near Barryville, 1915.
The Cable Bridge, Halfway Brook, near Barryville, 1915.

The Steel Bridge, Halfway Brook, between Eldred and Barryville.
The Steel Bridge, Halfway Brook, between Eldred and Barryville.

Posted in Bridges, Echo Hill and Mountain Grove, Then or now | Leave a comment

Hickok and Halfway Brook Falls

by Louise Smith Posted on July 24, 2022

1905: Hickok Falls and Old Water Wheel, Barryville, NY.
1905: Hickok Falls and Old Water Wheel, Barryville, NY.

1909 Halfway Brook Falls, Eldred. Artino post cards, NYC & Germany.
1909 Halfway Brook Falls, Eldred. Artino post cards, NYC & Germany.

Cut Glass Factory on Halfway Brook, Barryville, NY.
Cut Glass Factory on Halfway Brook, Barryville, NY.

I am quite excited to share my extensive collection of postcards from the Town of Highland over the coming weeks. The 2012 post on Real Photo Postcards may be of interest as you view these many postcards.

Real Photograph Postcards
Real Photo Postcards (RPPC) seem to have started in general use in the first few years after 1900. In 1903 Kodak introduced their No. 3A Folding Pocket Camera designed for postcard-size film. The photographs could be printed on postcard backs.

Other cameras were also used to make Real Photo postcards. Some used old-fashioned glass plates that required cropping the image to fit the postcard format.

It was 1907 before the Post Office would allow a postcard to have a message written on the same side as the address.

Also, by 1907 European publishers began opening offices in the U.S. for their millions of high quality post cards. Their cards made up 75% of all postcards sold in the United States. Germany’s printing methods were the best in the world.—usps.com; wikipedia.org.

Posted in Postcards, Then or now | Leave a comment

Eldred Sawmill

by Louise Smith Posted on July 10, 2022
Holloway Sawmill, Eldred, NY Postcard.
Holloway Sawmill, Eldred, NY Postcard.

Before I started researching and writing my Halfway Brook books, I ran across a site that posted postcards from the Eldred area, which included Mountain Grove, my Austin grandparents’ boarding home (where my father grew up).

Dad was living there, but got out safely, when the house burned down in 1935.

When I began writing and researching what became The Mill on Halfway Brook, I received permission to use the postcards in my books, from the owner of the site. My understanding is that the wonderful selection of postcards was later given to the Town of Highland.

I plan to post some of the postcards, some of which were not in any of my books. If they were in my books, they were black and white, unless, like the sawmill above, they were on the cover.

I find it interesting that the postcard above says Holloway Sawmill. I wonder if Holloway is a misprint of Halfway?

Posted in The Mill on Halfway Brook | Leave a comment