Before and After

I really enjoy looking at old photos and postcards of locations and then comparing them to current images. There are many great books on this same subject. One of my favorites shows before and after scenes of my hometown of Portland. I recently found a fantastic photo postcard of a small town in New Zealand, and then happened upon a photo of the same view today. Ohakune is a small ski town of a little over 1,000 inhabitants located at the southern end of the Tongariro National Park. It is close to the southern slope of an active volcano, Mount Ruapehuo.

What a Difference a Century Makes

I often find postcards that require some detective work to identify. There are many clues to follow. What type of photo paper was used? (This can often narrow the window considerably and I will have a post on dating postcards one of these days.) The cars on the street and fashion of pedestrians are usually other key giveaways. Sometimes there are signs or other clues that require a magnifying glass. When I found this photo card I was able to make out "Mt. Vernon State Bank" above the door, and after a bit of research was able to locate a Wikipedia post on the building, located in Mt. Vernon, Washington State.

The Mt. Vernon State Bank Just after completion around 1909.

From Wikipedia: "The President Hotel in Downtown Mount Vernon. Originally constructed as a three story hotel in 1909 by the Mount Vernon State Bank and Mount Vernon Hotel Companies, It opened as the Windsor Hotel. After a fire in the early 1920s, the Hotel was completely remodeled. Two floors containing 50 more rooms were added and complete by 1922, making it the tallest building in the county and the first with an Elevator. The Hotel was later renamed the President and now houses low income apartments. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 13, 2010."
(Thanks to the Wikipedia Commons for being a free use resource!)

The building today, with added floors.

 I have some interesting future plans for some Portland, Oregon before and after posts, so stay tuned!