Photo of The Month – Sep 2004

Looking Upriver

Picture contributor: Carolyn Greene Waters

A man in a suit and tie standing on a giant boulder jutting out from the river bank. The buildings and water towers of early Cliffside can be seen behind him. — Looking Upriver

The unidentified man, likely a friend of Luther and Blanche Campbell, stands on a boulder downriver from the iron bridge. Some things are puzzling about the background. 1) The tall watertower at the left: where exactly was it located? At the ice plant? 2) And beside it, the highest white building. Where does it fit in with what we know about the layout of early Cliffside? It looks to be where the Cliffside Garage later stood, and may have been the first company store building. 3) It’s difficult to see how the road was laid out from the bridge up to the square. There appears to be a sawmill in the way. 4) The structure beside the water tower in the middle of the picture seems to be situated above a wall or on top of a brick building, all of which seems strangely higher than the general elevation. Are we in Cliffside?

The building with the high-pitched roof beyond the man’s left arm may be the one shown in this picture and in this one.

From the Blanche Edwards Campbell collection.