The stone observatory on the Bloody lane is now finished and ready for visitors. The view from this point alone is worth a visit to the famous Bloody lane as you can take in the entire right to the left nearly four miles. There will be, when all planted, nearly four hundred markers, giving one a good idea of the entire battle field with the advantage of the good roads. Every body ought to visit it and make a study of this great battle.
Dr. Augustine Mason, C.S.A. Residence Site
Submitted by StephenRecker on Mon, 12/30/2013 - 9:46pm
This image was taken around the year 1880 on West Washington Street in Hagerstown, Maryland, about three blocks west of the Public Square. The house on the right edge of the photograph was the residence of Dr. Augustine Mason, C.S.A. Many Confederates lived in and around Hagerstown both during and after the war.
The location of this image was easy to find, mainly because Jeff Brown told me where it is. Of note is the staircase of the Miller House on the opposite side of the street. That building houses the Washington County Historical Society, which has an amazing collection of historical photographs of this area. In fact, they have a copy of this image in their collection that was used by Stephen Bockmiller in his book, "Hagerstown In The Civil War."
It is sad to see that most of the buildings on the north (right) side of the street no longer stand. But I guess it is best to appreciate the large number of historic buildings still standing in Hagerstown. The buildings in view across the street are in such good shape it is hard to imagine that they were there in the 1880s.
E.M. Recher, who took this stereoview, had a photograph studio on the same side of the street about two blocks behind where the camera stands. W.B. King, another photographer and a contemporary of Recher's, had a studio just a few doors behind Recher as he stood taking this image.
About
Hello. I'm Stephen Recker and welcome to my blog. In it I will be discussing the different projects I am working on related to the American Civil War with a focus on photography related to the battle of Antietam. I am particularly interested in how the battlefield has been interpreted throughout the years. I will be discussing how it was done then and how new technologies can be brought to bear to bring life to those old materials as well as new ones. See the 99 Places Every Antietam Battlefield Guide Should Know.
Sharpsburg Items
Antietam Valley Record
Thursday, September 5, 1895