The photo attached here is a very unique photo taken of what would eventually become known as the square The photo dates to 1907 and is a virtual history of Cobalt that is worth a thousand words. As a history buff and a photographer the quality of the photo is incredible. The image is still extremely clear well over one hundred years later. In fact almost all of the signs can be read either completely, or at least partially when its enlarged. Some are clear even at the photos normal size. Even tiny details can be seen in the photo like a dog, a man holding a book and two men reading what appears to be a newspaper of some sort.(in the group of 6 men in front of the pile of lumber below the W As well cables can be seen running everywhere in the photo, as well as details that tend to fade over time. Almost every man in the photo has a hat on, and most are dressed up. Only one woman can be seen in the photo..... The buildings are made of ship-lap and a few are covered in tar paper. No wonder the town had so many disastrous fires. Lumber is piled everywhere in the square and navigating the street if you can call it that was an adventure to say the very least. The town had 4 different law firms that were visible in this photo alone - others were there as well. Stumps littered the terrain and you would have to climb up the rubble piles to get to many of the buildings. It certainly paints a vivid picture of what the town was like in its earliest days...... To get your bearings imagine you are standing in the middle of the Square looking down the current road towards the arena. It would basically be down in behind the Cobalt Open Call Mining Exchange building. If you follow the labels in the photo you can see the details Ive listed A/ a sign for IXL Rye Whiskey (another one to its’ left as well) Might be an early saloon (bar)? B/ the Lunch Counter & Restaurant C/ the Pipe & Presley General Merchants building D/ _ _ _ eming the Jeweler (the first part of the name is not visible) The sign has a large pocket watch at the top of it E/ the office of H. Barber - the first part of the sign says “Mining Properties Bought & Sold F/ the Cobalt Open Call Mining Exchange building G/ M.Garry, Devine & ??? Law Offices H/ Dan Simpson, Mining Engineer Office I/ J.W. Evans ??? Engineer & Assayer, and Browning & Boultbee Law Offices Cobalt, North Bay, Toronto J/ the sign on the left is George Ross, Barrister & Solicitor and the sign on right is Bicknell Bain & Sadler, Barristers & Solicitors K/ a workman can be seen on top of the pole stringing wire - wires can be seen running all over in the photo L/ the Queens Restaurant which advertised that it offered ‘Meals At All Hours” (a 24 hour eatery?) M/ Imperial Bank of Commerce building N/ ????? not sure as can’t figure out exactly what the sign reads, but it appears to say ‘Shooting Gallery’ O/ a sign on a sawed off stump that has word Cobalt on it – the rest are not legible. Not sure what the it is referring to? P/ Quick Lunch – a food wagon (could Cobalt be the home of the original Fast Food to Go franchise ) This cart was present in this exact location in many early photos, even when they were just constructing the bank building Q/ a poster which is some form of a ‘Notice’ that is wrapped around a stump R/ it appears to be 2 young children W/ this is the only identifiable woman in all of this crowd of people X/ it’s the original ‘there’s Waldo’ (He must have come from Cobalt - when you magnify the photo the individual has a shirt on similar to the one the ‘Where’s Waldo’ character wears)
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 03:10:28 +0000
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