Slides give glimpse into Mattapoisett 100 years ago
On Wednesday night, a packed crowd came to the Mattapoisett Library to see the town as it looked a century ago.
With oohs and aahs as people recognized familiar landmarks and sometimes their own houses, historian Seth Mendell presented a collection of slides taken by Rev. Robert Humphey around the turn of the 20th century. The slides are part of the Mattapoisett Historical Society's collection.
Discovered by one of the reverend's successors in the attic of the Mattapoisett Congregational Church parsonage, the glass slides were originally viewed with "Magic Lanterns" that projected the images using candlelight. The fragile slides have since been scanned and digitized.
Mendell showed almost 100 slides that portrayed the elms that once lined Church Street, an explosion on North Street to make way for an electric rail and a waterfront clambake complete with a croquet game.
The latter image showed men in pants and coats and women in long sleeves and long skirts.
"You didn't wear your cut-off jeans in those days," said Mendell.
A photo of mansions on the waters edge at Pico Beach gave a clue as to the era as well.
"That tells us there weren't any hurricanes in anybody's memory banks," Mendell said.
Several years after the picture was taken, hurricanes in 1938 and 1944 destroyed many waterfront properties as well as those elm trees of which only one still survives.
Flipping through the slides of the Village, one woman was excited to see a photo of her own home.
"There's my house! Oh my golly," she exclaimed. "I've been looking for a picture of my house for decades. Thank you."
See more photos from the slideshow in the photo gallery.
