Photo of The Month – Jan 2008
Snowy Suburb
Picture contributor: Don Bailey
It’s hard to determine just where this landscape is. It may not be in Cliffside at all, but in another nearby mill town, but the written inscription at the top of the card says “A snow seanery (sic) at Cliffside, N.C. 1912.” And there is the familiar Hames Studio imprint.
One might wonder if it’s Bunker Hill (now named Island Ford Road), but is there a stretch anywhere on Island Fprd with a rise to the right of the road like we see in the background? What we can determine is that it was a fairly early snow, evidenced by the quantity of leaves still clinging to the hardwood trees. The “Paint” sign suggests a hardware or general store off to the right. Surprisingly, even at this early date the houses appear to be wired for electricity or telephones or both.
Update: There seems to be a consensus as to the location.
Ginny Ann Reid: “Could the Photo of the Month be Chesterfield Road? If so Hames [the photographer] would have lived on the right before you get to the sign.”
Buzz Biggerstaff: “It just hit me that it may be at the top of River Street, just before Chesterfield Road, with the photographer looking toward Duke Power. If you remember, Grover Gosey lived in a house just before turning out Chesterfield Road, which was a little lower than the house beside it. One reason it looks like I thought is, the trees are still there and Grover’s house was in that position. Now, Chess [Chester F.] Scruggs lived on this road and it was named after him. When, I’m not sure. The houses that presently exist on Chesterfield Road, which look like Cliffside houses, were probably moved there when the village was being torn down. Also, where these houses [in the photo] sat, the road would have then been called Chesnee highway or 221-A.”
James Price: “The photo of the month looks like it could be a shot of Chesterfield Road near the intersection with River Street going toward Chesnee.”