Photos at an exhibition: Cornwall, the way it was

CORNWALL — Way back when, Cornwall homes were mostly farmhouses, built in the simple style of the time when function was a priority. As families prospered and grew, so did their homes.

“During the Victorian era, everyone was adding wraparound porches.  Then they took them off again,â€� said Jodi Polsgrove, curator of the Cornwall Historical Society and its new exhibit, “Then & Now.â€�

The observation is one of many that exhibit organizers and visitors have noted in perusing this fascinating show. The exhibit shows how Cornwall’s wealth of old homes and buildings have changed, or not, over the decades, and sometimes centuries. It is just as amazing to see those that remain unchanged as it is to see those that are unrecognizable. And those porches, or the lack of them, make a big difference.

When a call went out for old photos, exhibit organizers knew they would get a good response. Cornwall has a remarkable number of buildings  handed down through the generations. By the time the show opened, about half of the 300 photographs on display had come out of family scrapbooks from around town.

Anne and John Zinsser even sent a scrapbook that included yellowed, hand-drawn plans for their Town Street home.

A curious and always fascinating phenomenon is that, even while we balk at change, we quickly forget what things used to look like. It’s easy to see a photo of an old home and imagine it always looked that way. A home now secluded on a tree-lined road more likely was originally surrounded by open fields and mixed in with various industrial pursuits.

Historical Society President Ginny Potter often comments on the current trend toward more secluded homes. She and other board members accompanied Cara Weigold as she accomplished the monumental task of photographing buildings as they look today.

“We should note that Cara just came on the board in June, and she volunteered right away to do this. And her two young sons should be commended for going along with us and being so well behaved,� Potter said.

The process involved one person riding “shotgun� with copies of the old photographs so Weigold could duplicate the angle of the photos.

“What we found is we couldn’t see a number of houses because trees had grown up around them. We’ll have to go back when the leaves are gone.�

It should be noted that many of the homeowners were called in advance, just to make sure they had no issues with their home appearing in the show.

 Only one declined.

The more things change...

The fun for Polsgrove and society members now is observing reactions from exhibit visitors.

“They get excited and point and recall what a building or house used to be. Or they forgot that a business used to be something else. They stand in front of the photographs and share stories,� Potter said. “We can definitely say we haven’t had a show that was more fun.�

Interestingly, dates are entirely missing from the photographs. And homes are not identified by more than a road name or section of town. It was partly a matter of the difficulty in pinpointing dates of many of the “Then� photos.

The result is that one doesn’t get caught up in specifics, but rather enjoys the charm of the photographs.

It gets people going about the properties and who lived where and when. If there were a contest, Denny Frost would get the prize for knowing maybe every last one of them. A longtime excavator, he has repaired septic systems and worked on just about every property in town over the years, Potter said.

“He went through here and was able to say who lived in all of the  houses. It was amazing.â€�

The show is divided up into sections of town, and includes a look at the dramatic landscape change inflicted by the 1989 tornado, as well as damage from floods in 1938 and 1955.

It includes what is believed to currently be the oldest home in town  and homes that succumbed to “non-development,â€� once standing on what is now Mohawk State Forest.

While the exhibit is a hit, the process of documenting Cornwall’s history through its buildings is far from over.

“We realized what an important resource this could be,� Potter said. “We are continuing to collect photos and file them so people can do research, whether it’s for history or genealogy.�

The historical society just launched a capital campaign to add to grant funds that will be used to for a renovation to expand and maximize existing space there. Plans include a place to properly store documents and photos, and a research room available to the public.