Shot in the Dark, Landscape Location ID'ing

Hello,

Was wondering if anyone could help me ID this location!

Long shot, but figured maybe someone could tell.

Also are those tents in the distance?

What is that wood platform in the foreground?

Any help would be appreciated!

-Scantic

 

Gee, that could almost be anywhere. At first, I saw the light colored area to the right of the darker building as water, with trees in the distance. But then, It also looks like the light colored shapes could be one or two roofs of low buildings. So I'm not sure...

 

I think those are two building roofs, as well. The land must drop off just past the darker colored building.

Definitely what we would call "colonial" style buildings so the location should be somewhere in the east or south that was populated by around that time. I wonder whether getting the sign on the white building isolated could give someone with good photo editing skills a chance at identifying some or all of the letters?

 

With the image blown up, clearly those are two low buildings on the right.

I'll see if I can do anything with the sign.

 

The building on the right is *very* New England... my house is basically the same as the front part of the building, a "straight-front Colonial." The building on the left looks more Southern to me, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be in New England.

 

A magnifying glass would probably be the best way to read that sign. Or a microscope, the resolution of pics here is not the best (for good reasons).

 

Sorry, the sign is too blurred for me to do anything with it in Photoshop. I agree... looking through a strong loupe might help.

 

Large bldg. with flagpole may be a government bldg. Tried some digital and optical tricks but signs are beyond my ability. There are US Gov't agencies that could read them. Could be a military fort or naval station, mid-to later 19th C. ???? That big bldg. is the key, some architectural historian will recognize the plan. Is that niche in the side a loading dock or what?

 

Is that raised thing on the right maybe a dock they raised and lowered ? Maybe its the Mississippi ?

 

Raised thing on the right? Are you sure you're not misinterpreting the space between the 2 building roofs?

 

Hello Everyone!

Tried to read the words on the building with a loop, but unfortunately they were blurry. Could almost make out a couple W's but not 100% sure on that :/ lol

 

I haven't had any luck on the sign on the white building or the smaller sign over it's front door. I agree with the others that those are the roofs of 2 buildings on the right with as Baker said a space between the buildings. The white building with porch on the left appears to have no cellar? It appears to have space under the building. If there is space with no cellar then probably not a New England location. I can't tell about the other building. If there is space under that other building then the crawl space is enclosed. The lower floor windows on the side of the white building are so close to each other that there is only room for 1 shutter for each window.

Nowwww if I didn't know better, I would think there was a satellite disk on the front right corner of the 2nd building! Of course I know it isn't, but wonder what it is. Also am wondering what is being flown from that flag pole. It doesn't look like a regular flag, but then I can't see it well enough. Wonder if it is a pennant??? Another puzzle is that white space in the front. Could it be a scale like a weighing station for weighing a wagon load of cotton, produce, or whatever? Then again it may have been at one time a site for a slave auction???

Scantic, you do have very interesting pictures, but I so wish they were posted straight up and down, face on, rather than having them at an angle or viewed the bottom up. I have to download them so I can straighten them out or/and up. Messi's edited pic straightened it out a little, but not enough for these old eyes and from keeping me from getting a crick in this old neck. Have included a straighten pic.

--- Susan

 

I meant to ask in my above reply, are those 2 wagons/carriages tied in front of the store or whatever that building is? If it isn't 2 vehicles, what kind of conveyance back when would have had 3 sets of wheels?

--- Susan

 

I have a trick that may or may not be useful here regarding viewing blurry or pixelated images. I am passing it on for use now or later.

I discovered it and used it once when I was studying for my Masters degree in a class taught by a well known professor and internationally recognized author concerning artifical intelligence. He showed us a picture that consisted of what looked like a random collection of dots. He asked my classmates and I if anyone recognized the image. He commented that no one in any class of his had ever recognized the image. He about fell over when he called on me after I raised my hand and correctly identified the image. An image of a cowboy on a bucking bronco.

But this is leading somewhere useful, hopefully. My trick is to slightly close my eyes and throw them out of focus a but, rather like squinting at something. For some reason I do not fully understand this allows the brain to kind of fill in the missing or unclear parts of an image. Next time you can't quite make out a blurry or pixelated image, try squinting at it, I think you may find the results surprising.

This is a trick I also use when viewing wanted posters, to help me generalize and remember the image. Sometimes small changes in a persons features can cause apparently radical changes in their appearance, but squinting at these images somehow helps to generalize the image and make it possible to recognize that face despite slight changes (like hair color or facial hair).

Try it you'll like it.

 

Another thought... 19th century New England colonials often had one large central chimney rather than the two smaller ones on the colonial in the photo. I don't know how often that was the case, though.

 

The two black discs on right are just defects in the image, artifacts of the photo or developing process. They show up in the reverse color of the background. Notice white one(s) on left side, same size/shape.

 

>...two black discs on right are just defects in the image...<

Ahhh, you are so right, Spring, on the discs/disks! I hadn't noticed the white one in the trees on the left until inverting the colors. That certainly explains the black disc in the road on the far right. I'm disappointed that the disc on the corner of the roof isn't a satellite dish. Gee, I thought maybe E.T.'s great grandpa visited earth a 100-150 earlier. Also what I thought was a weird flag is more defects or damage.

>... US Gov't agencies ... military fort or naval station, mid-to later 19th C.<

Speaking of the flag, that is one serious flagpole. a US Gov installation does seem likely.

--- Susan

 

"..a US Gov installation does seem likely..."

Making tents more and more likely I think.

I understand the appearance of a falling off of this "hill" on the right side, but the more I look at it the more I see tents (and no clues from the road, for example, of a "falling off"). The low details with those 'tents' as background, right next to the bottom of one 'tent," the angle of the "tent" peaks, no texture visible to me (such as shingles) make me think tents, and not roofs of houses....But I must admit it is very hard to tell.

I also agree with previous comments about satellite dishes and photo defects. ET was here...LOL.

Of course the type of photo offers clues to its age, pre Civil War probably almost an impossiblity making a 1861 to late 19th century date more likely. I would appreciate others comments about the age of this type of photo (and others), to educate me.

Last comment for now - that platform in the foreground is offering cryptic clues I just can not decipher.

 

Tried to get a better "Straight on" and closeup photo!

Hope this helps!