Enjoy a panoramic view of Westport's past in new photography exhibit

Herald News Staff
·3 min read

WESTPORT — Get ready for an expansive view of the town's history, as the Westport Historical Society presents, "Retro Perspective: Panoramic Vistas from Westport’s Past," an exhibit on view at the Westport Free Public Library, 480 Old County Rd.

This free exhibition will be on view from Jan. 3 to Feb. 28.

Featuring 22 historical panoramic views of Westport, this exhibit presents astonishing, expansive visions of the landscape, as well as fascinating tiny details of everyday life.

Covering locations from Westport Factory, the Head of Westport and Westport Point to the Harbor, these images reveal Westport as it appeared in the early 1900s — on the cusp of modernity, but still very much in the horse and buggy era.

From a collection of many hundreds of historical images, this exhibition presents a select few that, when paired with another image, form wider panoramic views. The images have been digitally merged to form a single view and enlarged from small 3 x 5 inch postcards to as wide as four feet.

“The large size of the prints provides an immersive experience for the viewer,” Jenny O’Neill, Westport Historical Society Executive Director, said in a press release. “It’s almost like being at that particular location and at that particular point in time.”

The rural landscape depicted in these images, delineated by an intricate maze of stone walls and wood fences, appears starkly treeless.

“Today it would be impossible to take a comparable photo because our views are generally obscured by trees,” said O’Neill.

These images are instantly accessible to the general viewer. Many of the buildings shown in these photographs still exist, making it easy to recognize many locations and to compare then and now.

“I hope visitors can look at these images from both a macro and a micro perspective,” O’Neill said. “I especially enjoy picking out the many details such as the washing hanging out to dry on a clothes-line, the photographer’s horse and buggy, the style of fencing, dogs wandering across a road, or the haphazard outbuildings in backyards. We offer a special photo detective scavenger hunt to engage younger audiences.”

This exhibition represents the work of three photographers — Oscar Edwin Dubois, John Howland and The Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Company — and draws from several collections. The Westport Historical Society holds an extensive postcard collection, including the Lees postcard collection, the Jan Hall collection, and Berwyn Field Collection. The exhibition also includes images from the Penobscot Marine Museum and from privately held collections.

Dubois (1863-1940), a Fall River-based photographer, documented this region extensively, traveling through Little Compton, Portsmouth, Westport, and Tiverton. Photographers of this era used hefty, large-format wooden cameras which were difficult to carry without a horse and buggy. Dubois’ horse and buggy can be spotted in a number of images in this exhibition.

A view from Wolf Pit Hill looking west to Drift Road at the Head of Westport. In the far distance stands the Bell School and houses lining Drift Road. The Wolf Pit School (built in 1833) with its wide white shutters appears in the center foreground, close to the gambrel-roofed house built by W. F. King. On the far right stands the home of Dr. Tupper, who cared for seriously ill patients. Several buildings stand on the west landing across the river. Look closely to find a ladder leaning against a tree and the horse and buggy, probably belonging to the photographer.

Howland (1848-1919), a farmer, carpenter and a photographer, lived on Pine Hill Road in Westport and took many photographs at the Head of Westport, South Westport and Cadmans Neck. Most of his images survive in the format of “real photo” postcards.

The Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Company, based in Belfast, Maine, focused on small rural towns of New England. A small crew of photographers traveled throughout this region capturing images of locally known landmarks, street scenes, country stores and businesses, events and people. Fortunately, the negatives survived and the collection is now at the Penobscot Marine Museum.

A selection of images are available for purchase.

Proceeds will support the Westport Historical Society.

The Westport Historical Society’s collection encompasses thousands of photographs and postcards. The entire collection of photographs can be browsed or searched at www.wpthistory.org/collection/online-collections-database.

Visit www.wpthistory.org/retro-perspective for further details.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Retro Perspective: Panoramic Vistas from Westport's Past at library