Birdseye View of Morris Village from the West

Photo and comments courtesy of Janet Washbon. Other comments noted.

Bob Thomas
Rene M Elliott - here's the photo you shared in Morris, NY - Smalltown USA -- is there bridge at bottom right or not?

Rene M Elliott
You really can't see, from the angle of the street it appears as you would be looking down on top of it, if in the photo at all. It is just annoying that so close to the village there would be no image of it. In 1915 or so the state highway project uncovered what they figured were the original log foundations of the first bridge down by Washbon's, (no photo of that either, just not a photogenic end of town?) which makes me wonder if the West St. Bridge likewise could have been a wood trestle before it became stone? Just something to think about when you go through the old newspaper archives. "West Street Bridge" might work as search words? Of course there could be unlabelled pictures of it floating around no one knows what it is, same thing for Matteson's tannery (which may or may not be at extreme bottom in this image?) .

Rene M Elliott
I will try and copy and share some 1985 vintage pictures of the bridge.

Bob Thomas
Rennie M Elliott I think Janet Washbon has said that she believes part of the tannery roof is visible.

Rene M Elliott
In front of the house, or the building with a hole in the roof?

Bob Thomas
The building with the hole.

Rene M Elliott
She was the person who first suggested this was taken from a balloon, I know they were here at the fair with one by 1890, supposedly one came down and bounced off Tom and Geneva McMillen's roof and into the (South Broad) street in front of our house.

Janet Washbon
The O.B. Matteson (since 1928 Washbon) house is the first white house on lower right. Matteson barn taken down by our grandmother as fire hazard is to the way back of the Matteson house. Bridges' house is next with old Morris Central School beyond it. High street starts at the corner between the Matteson's and Bridge's houses and curves around towards Bob Thomas' house. The Charles Hargrave workshop that became Fanny Draper Daniels' and her son's house (now rebuilt and enlarged Crumb's house) is on the east side of Calhoun Creek by the edge. The O.B. Matteson tanney is the three buildings alone the bottom edge starting from the corner. They were as far from the house as possible because of the smell from the tannery. The big open fields in the foreground are about 10 to 12 acres of our current property. Some later versions of this postcard cut off most of the buildings at the bottom trying to enlarge the houses in the village.

Rene M Elliott
I understand the tanneries would have 17 foot deep wooden vats, which is why people drowned in them so easily if they fell in with the hides. The hemlock bark would be ground by water power.

Janet Washbon
There is a mill trace on the east side of the creek and water control structures (breached dam and some channeling structures) still visible on our property. The mill pond was more than 8ft deep before the dam was breached many years ago. Hemlock forest missing in the postcard has regrown..