A reader of The Chief's Corner sent me a link to a fabulous 1942 Kodachrome image of Lincoln. This photo is part of a remarkable online collection of large and medium formal photos at shorpy.com. Your challenge is to figure out where this was taken. Here's the hint: For about a decade, this is where you could find me in the middle of this intersection on fall Saturdays. Tomorrow, Sgt. Sam Santacroce will be in charge here (click to enlarge).
24 comments:
Why in the world would I want to enlarge Sam Santacroce???
That "Stephenson School [Supply]" sign jumped out at me, but I'll zip my lip ;^D
My guess would be 10th and O Street.
Disregard 10th and O Street.
Ok let me try again, 10th to 9th on Q, looking westbound.
Looking west on O Street. 11th or 12th.
My guess is that it's P and 8th in the Haymarket!
I would guess... 9th & P?
I'm going to throw out 17th and O Sts.
No winners yet. There are a lot of clues in the picture, but you must have a sharp eye. Took me awhile.
10th & P st
8th and Q Street.
10th and P looking west toward 9th st
The Library of Congress has begun placing photos from its archive in Flickr, including a few of Lincoln in the 1940's that were showcased at the time they teamed up, and apparently have now been re-posted on Shorpy.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Lincoln&w=8623220%40N02
9:25 and 9:35-
Yes, it's 10th & P, but no it's not looking west. Sgt. Ed Sheridan, off-blog, correctly identified it as 10th & P looking north. The Pabst Blue Ribbon sign would be about where the bar at the Embassy Suites is today. When I first say the photo, I pinpointed one strong clue, then two elements that constitute irrefutable proof.
If you search for Lincoln, Nebraska on shorpy.com, you'll find a handful of other great images.
Hope the traffic direction before tomorrow's NU v. KU football game goes well, Sam. That intersection was a bear in the 1970's and 1980's when I worked it, and it's much worse now with the hotel and the westbond lane.
Good luck at that intersection tomorrow, and may downtown be safe and uneventful all night - oh, let's hope for a better game too. As a backup plan, I have the 1998 Orange Bowl on DVD (great buy on that box set, you won't regret it), just in case the live game goes in the turlet.
The big clues would be first, the green light pole with the dropped globes and the eagle on top, which BTW, is still there on the corner of what is now an apartment conversion but was once the old post office (it's where Blue Orchid is now). The other clue would be the building in the far background, which is what UNL now calls Former Law. In this era, it was the law college. The Stephenson's building in front of it was demolished about the time the Lied Center was built. It's a parking lot now.
It looks like downtown Havelock.... present day.
12:53-
Very good. Those eagle light posts identify this as Government Square: 9th to 10th, O to P. It's got to be one of those four intersections, and the lack of elevation change pretty quickly eliminates 9th street from the equation. That is indeed the old Law College in the background, which still exists. You can also barely see the cupola of Architecture Hall (the original University Library) sticking above the top of the buildings in the background. This photo was taken from the east steps of the Post Office, which most genuine Lincolnites would probably call the Old Federal Building (or just Old Fed), and almost no one would call by it's current name: Grand Manse.
Unrelated, but timely: How long has it been since LPD last dispatched at least sixteen (!) Officers to a single address?
I found this on Flickr when doing some odd searches. See if you can identify the LPD Officer in the photo. There are some larger sizes at the "all sizes" link.
I like how part of the Journal-Star sign is burned out, much like most of their editorial staff.
I'm probably as guilty as you are, chief, but maybe you should read over your blog before you publish it. I believe you used "or" instead of "of" in your last submission. Call me anal, but I can't help it.
Chief check your word usage, say instead of saw?
4:40-
Thank you. Fixed. Ever notice how difficult it is to proof your own work? Why is it that you can always spot other people's typos, but never your own?!
10:04-
Thanks, I realized I had fat-fingered that, but you can't go back and edit comments after they are posted, so I just let it go....
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