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Nick’s skill unlocks photo’s secrets
We learned a new term down at the Cafe today: “forensic imaging.”
That’s where an expert like Sylva Herald graphic designer Nick Breedlove examines the minute details of a photograph to learn more than is initially apparent. When we asked Nick to employ his considerable skill on the digitized image that’s the basis of this week’s “Then and Now” (see page 8C), we were amazed by the wealth of information that appeared.
We sought Nick’s technology assistance after we struck out with our usual methods of procuring information for the newspaper’s weekly history feature. This week’s picture was taken at the west end of Main Street and labeled (incorrectly we would learn) “Armistice Day, 1920 or 1921.”
First we consulted “The History of Jackson County,” but found only a description of Sylva’s 1918 celebration of the agreement that ended World War I. We asked one of our best historical sources, Rachel Phillips, who was born in 1919, how long Sylva had Armistice Day parades. She conferred with Allie Huff, who is 90-plus and has lived in Sylva all her life, but neither of them could remember any.
Rachel and Allie did remember that the left building visible behind the floats had been a service station that they thought was run by Enloe Moore.
“This is Sylva,” the sign said, in case anyone was confused. The sign, apparently sponsored by Polarine, a brand of motor oil, once stood on Main Street. This portion is an enlargment of a portion of this week’s “Then and Now” photo.
In this enlargement of an area in this week’s “Then and Now” photo (see page 8C), children stand on the edge of unpaved Savannah Drive to watch what is believed to be a 1920s Armistice Day parade. Though The Herald’s file photo indicates the shot is from 1920 or 1921, the presence of the school sign means it was at least 1924, the year Sylva High School opened in what is now Mark Watson Park.
Thanks to Photoshop and Google, Herald grahic designer Nick Breedlove unraveled the mystery word on a 1920s “This is Sylva” sign (right photo).
Wanting to learn more, we turned to Nick.
“Can you enlarge the picture?” we asked. “Those look like signs.”
In seconds we were looking at an image magnified hundreds of times; in a minute or two we had enlarged prints of two signs that are barely visible in the original photo.
The sign between Main Street and Savannah Drive is what proved the picture was not taken in 1920 or 1921. “Danger/School/Slow Down” is written above the N.C. 10 highway designation. Sylva High School, which was located in what is now Mark Watson Park, did not open until 1924, and Sylva Elementary, once located in the same area, opened in 1929. The presence of a “school” sign in the picture means that it was at least 1924 before it was taken.
And Nick didn’t stop with that one. He also enlarged the sign next to the service station. Most of it was pretty clear: “This is Sylva/Speed limit 12 miles” and then directional signs to Dillsboro (2 miles), Bryson City and Franklin, though the distances to the latter two will remain unknown because a man’s head is blocking them. The sign on the station itself, “Early’s Se ...” also became clear in the enlargement, leading Rachel to remember Sion Early, known in the history book as S.T. Early, who was one of the town of Dillsboro’s original board of aldermen. Rachel and Allie remembered Enloe Moore at the station because Moore was Early’s nephew (S.T. Early married Sarah Enloe; her sister married a Moore). According to Vol. 1 of “The Jackson County Heritage,” Early was “famous for building water grist mills” and built the one on Mingus Creek in what is now Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That mill is still operated by the National Park Service.
Using a scanner to digitize old images provides a wealth of tools to learn more about the picture, Nick said. Light areas can be “burned in,” and contrast can be intensified to help bring out detail.
“You can do all that in a darkroom, too, but it takes much more time,” he said. “With computers you can see the results in seconds.”
Our most exciting discovery is the identity of the word in the center of the Sylva sign. Nick had to pull out several tricks to solve the mystery of “Polarine,” which he then Googled and learned was a brand of motor oil that was apparently a division of Standard Oil Co.
Magnification and an examination of the entire picture also revealed the name on the right-hand float: “Builders Supply.” That business, once located on Harold Street where Ashley Co. was until a few years ago, was operated by Claude Allison. The location is now home to another builders’ supply – Jennings..
While we learned a lot of new information between the time our Community Life section containing this week’s “Then and Now” was printed Tuesday morning and press time Wednesday, we also found a mistake that modern technology couldn’t help us fix. Rachel told us that the barn next to the station had belonged to Allie Huff’s grandfather, Osborne Buchanan, but we managed to misunderstand that part and reported that the barn was Monroe Buchanan’s.
Of course, just because we can’t fix 7,200 printed copies doesn’t mean Nick can’t intercede in cyberspace.
At least our online version will be correct.
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