Eight young women are seated and standing around a wooden table, each holding pieces of leather, thread, or partially finished shoes. Their posture is deliberate, their focus directed downward, and the arrangement carefully balanced. The photograph was made at the Harris Elite Art Studio in Portsmouth, Ohio, and the setting Continue Reading
Thing
Nannie’s Dead
We watched, as, through that dreary night,She drew her laboring breath,And, sometimes, when she suffered most,We almost prayed for death. Death came—she calmly fell asleep,While we were sobbing low,Just as, upon the morning air,The hour of Ten tolled slow. We placed a sprig of evergreenWithin her tiny hand,And, round her Continue Reading
The Sleeping Child: The Monument of Mary E. Davis at Friendship Cemetery
In Friendship Cemetery, nearly hidden from view from the nearby highway passing through Nile Township, Scioto County, Ohio, lies the grave of Mary E. Davis, an infant whose life was measured in months rather than years. Her monument, however, speaks with the voice of a family’s grief and the artistry Continue Reading
Roy McCall: A Lamb at Rest in Beech Fork
Hidden along the wooded slopes of Brush Creek Township in Scioto County, Ohio, the small grave of Roy McCall rests quietly beneath the canopy at Beech Fork Cemetery. His modest, hand-carved monument is both a personal memorial and a remarkable example of Appalachian folk artistry — a child’s death preserved Continue Reading
Ephemera Friday #25: City Beer Garden Advertisement
This advertisement for the City Beer Garden, operated by William Asche, appeared in the Portsmouth Times on December 16, 1882. The establishment was located at the corner of Eighth and Chillicothe Streets in Portsmouth, Ohio — an area that, at the time, was becoming increasingly known for its saloons, beer Continue Reading
The Canal is Doomed
“The Chillicothe Gazette has the following of interest:” “The conditions at the state dam have been greatly aggravated by the rise in the Scioto river on Saturday, which washed out 300 feet of the tow path of the canal below the dam. The attention of the board of public works Continue Reading
A New and Beautiful Edition: The Isaac Price Monument in 3D
The Monument of Isaac Price (1794–1839) Among the historic stones of Old Wheelersburg Cemetery, one monument stands out for both its language and its journey. It belongs to Isaac Price, born May 25, 1794, and died April 16, 1839, at the age of 44 years, 10 months, and 22 days. Continue Reading
The Grave of Revolutionary War Patriot William Lucas Sr.
Beneath the shade of aging trees in Lucasville Cemetery, a uniquely preserved monument quietly honors a man who stood at the birth of a nation. Captain William Lucas Sr., born in 1742 in Frederick County, Virginia, answered the call for liberty during the American Revolution — and in death, he Continue Reading
Willis & Sons named official photographers for C.P.&V. Railway
Willis & Sons have been selected by the officials of the C. P. & V. to photograph the bridges, tunnels, cuts, curves and other picturesque scenes along that popular line. Willis & Sons now have some of the finest stereopticon views that were ever placed before a set of lenses Continue Reading
1959 Glenwood High School Class Play
A picture purchased from an antique store in Portsmouth, Ohio, that was determined to be the graduating class of 1959’s class play at Glenwood High School in New Boston, Ohio. Only seven names were written on the back and not in an order that would identify the particular person, aside Continue Reading