Photo of The Month – Aug 2008

Then and Now

Picture contributor: Sherry Harris Phelps

An aerial view of Cliffside School and a large area around it. — Then

The upper reaches of North Main and of White Line were rarely covered in sequences of aerial photographs. This shot was probably made around 1950, by Roy Lee Harris, of course. Thanks to the season—winter—we’re able to see the detail through the trees. So much is gone: the engine house (upper left, with the shiny roof); the houses on White Line; Barney’s store and the homes on the far side of North Main; and, beyond the ball ground, the Haynes Grove School for the African-American community and the homes nearby. Below is a 2006 Google Earth® satellite photo of roughly the same area.

A present day aerial shot of the same area, demonstrating how the area has changed over the decades. — Now

The “Now” photo shows what’s new, nearly 60 years later, notably the “dining hall” and funeral home to the left of the school’s main building, and the homes that now occupy the area in front of the school (lower right). The houses at lower left are all the “old” Cliffside homes to have survived.

Do we remember the river (the brown area at the top) being so close?