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Historic Pelham Blog Archive
April 11, 2005

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Monday, April 11, 2005
More From the William R. Montgomery Glass Negative Collection

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site

Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.

On February 17, I posted to the Historic Pelham blog an extensive item entitled "The Glass Negatives of Former Town Historian William R. Montgomery". If you have not read that posting, I strongly urge you to review it for extensive background on the large collection of glass negatives containing images of homes, structures and locations in Pelham taken during the 1920s. (Click here or click on the link above to read that posting and learn more about the collection.)

William R. Montgomery served as Historian of the Town of Pelham during the 1920s and 1930s. He had an intense interest in, and abiding respect for, the history of Pelham and surrounding areas. During his tenure he created a very large collection of glass photographic negatives that today form an important part of the photographic portions of the collections of The Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham.

Last night a group of prominent Pelham residents asked if I would make more information about the negatives and some more images from the collection available. Late last night and early this morning I selected a few more images and am providing some bibliographic information for each. Today's blog posting -- the latest in an ongoing series of daily postings to the Historic Pelham Blog made each business day without fail since February 8 -- provides a few additional images from the collection. Please remember that the scans of the negatives were performed at very high resolution but the images available via this blog have been substantially reduced in size and resolution for delivery via the Web. The original scans are capable of being printed in "poster size" with no degradation in the quality of the image.

The first image should be one that is near and dear to members of the Board of Trustees of the Pelham Preservation and Garden Society. The archival envelope in which the negative is stored indicates that it shows the home located at 1362 Pelhamdale Avenue (now the home of PPGS Board Member Ann Frost and her husband Lou) under construction. The photograph was taken on June 3, 1928. The image appears immediately below and is followed by the bibliographic reference I have created for it in the Excel spreadsheet being used to log all of these negatives.

Image Courtesy of The Office of The

Historian of The Town of Pelham, NY

The bibliographic reference for the image that appears immediately above is as follows:

Subject: Home at 1362 Pelhamdale Avenue under construction
Title (If Any): "Pelhamdale, 1362 Res. of Mr. & Mrs. Hulbert (under construction)"
Date (Creation/Publication): 6/3/1928
Photographer/Creator): William R. Montgomery
Medium: Glass photographic negative
Repository: The Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham
Collection: Glass Negatives Collection of The Office of The Historian of the Town of Pelham
Access/File Info: Standing Metal Cabinet: Glass Negatives Box #2
URL (If Any): N/A
Notes: Negative stored inside archival envelope on which the following is written in blue ink: "BUILDINGS : HOUSES : Pelhamdale, 1362 (?) Res. of Mr. & Mrs. Hulbert (under construction)"; immediately beneath is written in pencil "(FROST)"; near bottom is written in blue ink "Photo: Wm Montgomery 6/3/1928" and near bottom lightly written in pencil is "1-33"; 00000109-B is not from the Historian Office files but, rather, is an "inverted" view of the negative created with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0.
Reverse: N/A
Source(s): From William R. Montgomery's attic after his death
Categories: Buildings, Houses, Pelhamdale Avenue, contstruction, Hulbert, Frost
Dimensions: L - 10.5 cm x W - 12.5 cm
Obverse ID No.: 00000109-A
Reverse ID No.: N/A
Additional ID No.: 00000109-B

The next image shows a fire that damaged Pelhamdale, a home on the National Register of Historic Places located at 45 Iden Avenue in Pelham Manor. The fire occurred on February 28, 1925. Smoke is billowing from the roof area. Fire department ladders are visible against the building and onlookers stand on the front lawn of the home.

Image Courtesy of The Office of The

Historian of The Town of Pelham, NY

The bibliographic reference for the image that appears immediately above is as follows:

Subject: Fire at Pelhamdale, 45 Iden Avenue, on February 28, 1925
Title (If Any): "Fire at 'Pelhamdale' Feb. 28, 1925"
Date (Creation/Publication): 2/28/1925
Photographer/Creator): William R. Montgomery
Medium: Glass photographic negative
Repository: The Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham
Collection: Glass Negatives Collection of The Office of The Historian of the Town of Pelham
Access/File Info: Standing Metal Cabinet: Glass Negatives Box #2
URL (If Any): N/A
Notes: Negative stored inside archival envelope on which the following is written in blue ink: "BUILDINGS : HOUSES 45 IDEN AVE Fire at 'Pelhamdale' Feb. 28, 1925"; near bottom is written in blue ink "Photo: Wm Montgomery" and near bottom lightly written in pencil is "1-10"; 00000087-B is not from the Historian Office files but, rather, is an "inverted" view of the negative created with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0.
Reverse: N/A
Source(s): From William R. Montgomery's attic after his death
Categories: Buildings, Houses, Fires, Pelhamdale, Iden Avenue
Dimensions: L - 10.5 cm x W - 12.5 cm
Obverse ID No.: 00000087-A
Reverse ID No.: N/A
Additional ID No.: 00000087-B

The final image I have included today shows a home at 666 Esplanade in Pelham Manor on May 13, 1923. Once again, bibliographic data for the image is listed below the photograph.

Image Courtesy of The Office of The

Historian of The Town of Pelham, NY

The bibliographic reference for the image that appears immediately above is as follows:

Subject: Home at 666 Esplanade, May 13, 1923
Title (If Any): "ESPLANADE 666 Mrs. E.C. King's House"
Date (Creation/Publication): 5/13/19235
Photographer/Creator): William R. Montgomery
Medium: Glass photographic negative
Repository: The Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham
Collection: Glass Negatives Collection of The Office of The Historian of the Town of Pelham
Access/File Info: Standing Metal Cabinet: Glass Negatives Box #2
URL (If Any): N/A
Notes: Negative stored inside archival envelope on which the following is written in blue ink: "BUILDINGS : HOUSES : ESPLANADE 666 Mrs. E.C. King's House"; near bottom is written in blue ink "Photo: Wm Montgomery 5/13/1923" and near bottom lightly written in pencil is "1-31"; 00000107-B is not from the Historian Office files but, rather, is an "inverted" view of the negative created with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0.
Reverse: N/A
Source(s): From William R. Montgomery's attic after his death
Categories: Buildings, Houses, Fires, Pelhamdale, Iden Avenue
Dimensions: L - 10.5 cm x W - 12.5 cm
Obverse ID No.: 00000107-A
Reverse ID No.: N/A
Additional ID No.: 00000107-B

The William R. Montgomery Glass Negative Collection is a treasure that should be shared with Pelham residents many of whose homes are shown in these early photographs by a man who cherished the history and beauty of Pelham and surrounding areas.

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/

posted by Blake A. Bell @ 7:16 AM

Click Here To View the Actual Blog Posting for April 11, 2005.

Historic Pelham Blog Archive April 11, 2005

Historic Pelham Blog Archive
April 11, 2005