The Mattapoisett Historical Society still has a large collection of unlabeled photos, but  a recent exhibit did uncover a few answers.

"Betty Pennington has been going through photographs for almost a year," said Curator Elizabeth Hutchinson.

Throughout the process, Pennington and Hutchinson kept coming across "what is this?" photos and decided to put several dozen on display in the hope that residents would be able to identify some of the people and places.

One portrait of a man got a lot of attention, but still remained a mystery.

"Everyone recognizes him, but no one can remember his name," said Hutchinson.

When faces proved too elusive to identify, people often looked at other clues in a photo to help narrow down the possibilities – an unusual cupola on a nearby house, the clothes, a resemblance to other people in town.

"I fully expect a lot of them not to be identified," Hutchinson said. "Some will fade off into obscurity, but you never know."

Even the few with information written on the back proved to have some inconsistencies – some were mislabeled while others were not taken in Mattapoisett.

Hutchinson did get answers to a handful of photos that were on display, including some taken 25 years ago.

Said Hutchinson, "People don't think that's very old, but they will start to forget."

The Historical Society still has a big box of photos that Hutchinson plans to scan and post on the group's Facebook page in an effort to get more answers.

In the meantime, she's going to do more research on the photos that were identified.

"Now comes the detective work. We'll go back and look at pictures, talk to family members," said Hutchinson.

And she has one last message for anyone with pictures that may one day end up in that big box: "Label your photos!"