Several people have submitted old photos of the area recently, and I'm very happy to post them here for public viewing and comment.
They're all new to me. It's amazing to wonder how many other old photos there might be tucked away in private collections. If you have a photograph of Placentia pre-World War II, you should have copies made for safe-keeping, and maybe consider donating a copy to the Archives (located at the Placentia Public Library). Old photos are treasures!
As always, click on the image to view a larger version.
The first comes from Harry Smith. It shows people drying fish on Placentia beach. I've never seen this before, and it really drives home how different it is to read statements like "the expansive beach at Placentia was used to dry fish" versus actually seeing it done.
Unfortunately, Mr. Smith didn't say when this was taken. If anyone knows, or has a tidbit of information about the picture, email us!
The next series are provided by Chris Newhook, and they relate to the previous blog entry about Southeast. As was said in that entry, Southeast Placentia was a popular resort spot for the well-to-do of St. John's (and sometimes further abroad). This first picture is titled "A Morning's Catch," is dated 1892, and is connected to 'Fulfort's' (or, Fulford's) hotel (one of the many hotels that used to be in Southeast). I assume these are vacationers . . ?
This is the same spot, Fulford's Hotel, 33 years later, in 1925. Such a gathering of automobiles was not a common sight in 1920's rural Newfoundland. This demonstrates how popular Southeast was as a get-away for wealthy families of the day. Also, take note of the chicken standing in the lane.
The following shot is of the Riverview Hotel (labeled as 'Fulfort'). Mr. Newhook has kindly transcribed the caption in the upper right-hand corner, which obviously corresponds to the people standing in the garden.
It is labeled 'circa 1908.' As with all of the images above, anyone with extra information is warmly invited to email it to placentiablog@gmail.com --- or write it down and drop it in to the Placentia Library, the blog's headquarters.
The final image comes once again from Harry Smith, and it relates back to a previous entry, showing Mr. Bernard Penney's beautiful hand-carved model of the Jerseyside Placentia train station. This is an image of the station itself, with the coal storage building beside it. I believe the current 'Coalyard' playground on top of Jerseyside Hill gets its name from this?
3 comments:
Great photos! The beach shot with dried fish everywhere is interesting. Those pics are more valuable than ever, as we may never see the cod industry like that again.
Thanks so much for those! lOVE TO SEE old photos
It was nice to see the picture of the Jerseyside Station however, the building next to the train station was the roundhouse which enclosed the turntable for the train engine. The other building was the freight shed. The Coal Yard was stituated next to the roundhouse and was used to store the coal for the coastal boats and the train before "diesal times". - Patricia Power
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