Where is this bend in the river?
This image was made from a glass negative in the archives of the Observer-Reporter. It shows a town on a bend in a river, taken from a vantage point high on the opposite bank.
What town this is and which river it sits on are a mystery to us. We assume it is the Monongahela River, but it could be the Ohio. When the photos was taken is also unknown. Many of the large glass negatives in the newspaper’s collection date to the earliest years of the 20th century, so it’s a good guess that this scene depicts a time more than 100 years distant.
Some of the buildings are probably still standing, and it’s unlikely that the street pattern has changed.
We’re hoping our readers can identify this location, and that a photograph can be taken from the same place for comparison. If you think you can solve this week’s Mystery Photo, email Park Burroughs, retired executive editor, at pburroughs@observer-reporter.com, or call and leave a message for him along with your telephone number at 724-222-2200, extension 2400.
With a little help, we’ll be able to identify the town and publish our findings next Monday.
Concerning last week’s Mystery Photo showing the 1940 local running of the Soap Box Derby, Tony Nicolella called to let us know that the photo of Darrell Amos in his car that had been hanging in the bar of his family’s restaurant, Peppino’s, was not destroyed in the recent fire. “I had taken it down to hang some Prexie football things,” Nicolella said. He wants to let people know that the photo will hang again on a wall dedicated to famous Washingtonians once the restaurant reopens.