Pennsylvania
A pair of albumen photographs of Western Pennsylvania oil region towns, incl. view of Main Street in Parker's Landing. Ca 1880.

8 x 5 7/8 in. albumen photograph on 9 7/8 x 7 in. cardstock mount with recto pencil inscriptions including: "Parkers Landing. Pa." Featured here is a busy stretch of Main Street in Parkers Landing, PA, with storefronts bearing signage for the "Eckert House," a "Boot and Shoe Shop," an "Ice Cream and Refreshments" shop, "Billy Turner's Opera House," "A. J. Montgomery Livery & Teams," and others.

Parker's Landing was an oil boomtown that burst to life after the Civil War. Between 1869 and 1870 the area's oil output rapidly increased from 310 to 2,200 barrels per day, and cropping up everywhere were saloons, stores, hotels, livery stables, and machine shops. The population exploded similarly, with more than 20,000 people residing in the town at one point. Parker's Landing and nearby Lawrenceburg merged to form the city of Parker in March of 1873, and the Parker & Karns City Railroad opened in 1874. The inevitable bust came with the overall decline in the oil business in the late 1870s. Speculators clearing out of the area along with a tremendous fire in 1879 ensured the diminishment of the once-thriving boomtown.

[With:] 8 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. albumen photograph on 9 1/2 x 8 in. cardstock mount featuring lightly penciled inscription: "Swamp Lodge. / Imbrie Miller / Engineers Quarters. Phila & Erie Ry." Pictured is a log cabin in a large clearing, showing people looking out of the windows and doorway. Other people, including a child, stand on a log pathway to the right side of the structure.

Though we could find no other images of "Swamp Lodge," the structure is referenced in William Bender Wilson's History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company (Philadelphia: Henry T. Coates & Co., 1899). He writes of Frank J. Firth, once an Assistant Engineer for the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad: "Subsequently he removed to Swamp Lodge, an engineers camp in the woods beyond the present location of Kane, and took charge of the construction of Summit Division of Philadelphia and Erie Railroad."

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Parker's Landing image: toning, spotting/discoloration, approx. 1 in. tear extending upward into image from bottom edge of mount; mount with toning, soiling, spotting.

"Swamp Lodge" image: toning and light spotting to print; mount with toning, spotting, and waviness. Verso appears as if it has been removed from an album due to surface loss and adhesive residue.

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Please email [email protected] for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.

Katie Horstman

VP, Head of Department, American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography

[email protected]513.666.4958

Ms. Horstman has spent over a decade specializing in historic photography and Americana at auction. During her tenure, she has overseen several notable single owner auctions, including property from the inventory of celebrated Americana and antique arms expert Norm Flayderman. During her time with the firm, she has maintained an active membership in the Daguerreian Society. Ms. Horstman holds an MA in Art History from the University of Cincinnati and a BA in Art History from The Ohio State University.

Visions of America: The Stephen White Collection

Pennsylvania
A pair of albumen photographs of Western Pennsylvania oil region towns, incl. view of Main Street in Parker's Landing. Ca 1880.

Visions of America: The Stephen White Collection

PennsylvaniaA pair of albumen photographs of Western Pennsylvania oil region towns, incl. view of Main Street in Parker's Landing. Ca 1880.

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Pennsylvania
A pair of albumen photographs of Western Pennsylvania oil region towns, incl. view of Main Street in Parker's Landing. Ca 1880.