8/21/2023:
This week’s mystery photograph shows wagons lined up outside the offices of D. Canale & Co., wholesale fruit and produce merchants in Memphis.
The printed caption at the bottom of the image reads: “Side View: Showing convenience in handling less than carload freight in and out.” A handwritten note on the back reads: “182.” Where was D. Canale & Co.? Where was the photographer standing and pointing the camera when this image was made? If you can find the answers, let us know in the comments box!
SOLVED!!
Several people submitted answers for this mystery, providing us with a lot of helpful information! First, a detective named Patrick submitted the following information, “This building is at 408 S. Front Street. The photographer was standing on the north west corner of S. Front street and Huling when the photo was taken. The building is still there today and is now the Paperworks apartments.”
This is correct! Using Google Street View we can confirm this location is accurate. Further, we received a submission from an anonymous detective giving us the correct coordinates: 35.136156, -90.059592. Another submission gives a little more detail about the building today – “In January 1987, this building became the Paperworks Apartments (a Henry Turley development) with an address of 408 S. Front Street.” And because they were a resident of the Paperworks building, also included this interesting tidbit, “The southernmost neighbor was Selph’s Cricket Ranch (420 S. Front), a three story building that, I was told, incubated 35 million crickets annually!”
8/14/2023:
This week’s mystery photograph provides a fair number of clues. According to accompanying notes, the picture shows an underpass on brick-paved Butler Avenue in 1914. A woman is standing on the porch of a house at the right. Signs on the building in the background identify it as E. C. Atkins & Co. Saws & Mill Supplies.
The handwritten caption at the top reads: “Butler Ave. Subway.” An tag attached to the physical photograph reads: “Illinois Central Railroad Co. Office of Photographer, Chicago, Ill. May 21, 1914 Negative by J. K. Melton.” Analyzing all of that information should give us a pretty good idea of where the photographer was standing. Can you help locate the portion of Butler Ave. where this photograph was taken and the direction the photographer was standing?
SOLVED!!
A few people solved this one! First, Patrick Tarpley submitted information proving that this photo was taken while the photographer was standing on Butler looking east between Front street and Main street. As Mr. Tarpley, explained, “the large brick building on the right in the background is the Arrive Hotel today on the corner of Butler and Main street.“
Another anonymous detective noted the sign on the large brick building on the right, stating that “Atkins was located at #477 South Main Street in 1914.” This further proves that the building on the right is the current location of the Arrive Hotel (previously a Memphis College of Art graduate school building). The photographer, then, would have been standing at about 35.134500, -90.060247.
8/7/2023:
The title of this image is simply, “Residential Street.” The description gives a little more information, including the fact one of the mailboxes has a name and number visible: H.E. Padgett, with the number 3814. However, we were unable to determine the street name at the time this item was digitized. If you can provide any additional information about the street or H.E. Padgett, please let us know in the comments box!
SOLVED!!
This mystery was solved by an anonymous submission. Someone was able to find information in the Commercial Appeal Archive from June 17, 1949, stating that Mr. and Mrs. H.E. Padgett lived at 3814 Woodland Drive, putting this photograph near the location of 35.1329893,-89.9342527.
7/31/2023:
We’re heading downtown for this week’s mystery. This 10 x 3.5 in. photograph shows an industrial street in downtown Memphis. A locomotive and a horse-drawn cart are visible near an intersection. The building on the corner has a painted sign reading, “Barnes & Miller” – likely, Barnes & Miller Hardware Company.
We don’t know the date this photograph was taken, nor are there any notes indicating exactly where the photographer was standing when this image was captured. If you can help by providing more specific information about the location in the photograph or the date it was taken, please let us know in the comments box!
SOLVED!!
We received several submissions on this mystery. One anonymous submission suggested that it was taken, “around 90-145 Nettleton Ave. looking towards Front Street. Other sources say this is from 1910.” This was backed up by users on Instagram, who also indicated that the building at the corner of Nettleton Ave. and Front Street later housed the Piggly Wiggly Headquarters.
The 1909 City Directory indicates that the NW corner of Front Street and Nettleton was a construction site. In the 1910 Directory, Barnes & Miller Hardware is listed as occupying the space, where it remains until 1914. The building still stands today and can bee seen on Google Maps: 35.135017, -90.059671.
7/24/2023:
This week’s mystery photograph shows a young man and a boy in front of a produce stand covered by an awning. A sign on top of the cash register reads “A. Campagna.” Signs on the windows of a building in the background read “Hunt & Bro.” and “…Express Company”.
The handwritten description on the back of this photograph reads, “Names unknown” and “Gift of P. L. Campagna, Jr.” Unfortunately, it is undated. Can you help determine the location pictured here? Perhaps the businesses in the background will provide a clue. If you can figure it out, let us know in the comments box!
SOLVED!!
Instagram user @sunnyfranklin solved this mystery, pointing out that newspaper articles provide a “treasure trove of fascinating facts” about the Campagna family, including the location of their fruit stand.
The City Directories give a variety of locations for the stand, all around Court Square: SW Corner of Main/Court, NE Corner of Main/Court, and finally 20 N Main in 1934. As @sunnyfranklin pointed out, the building in the background, with the windows indicating a business in the basement do match up with the Dr. D. T. Porter building at 10 N Main.
And in fact, newspaper advertisements and the City Directories from 1909, indicate that Hunt & Bro. was located in the basement level of the Porter Building. Further, the American Express Co. was located at 103-105 Court Avenue, which corresponds to the signs seen in the background of the image. The Commercial Appeal archive also has a 1912 story discussing the Compagna fruit stand and describes it as being at the SW corner of Court Square.
All of these details help to place our photographer at the SW corner of Court Square, looking south toward the Porter Building located at 10 N. Main: 35.145750, -90.052428.