Then and Now (date not known)

Have you ever looked around West Boylston and wondered, “What did this look like 100 years ago?” In some places, it looks relatively the same. For example, take a look at the “Then & Now” photo below of the fill near the Old Stone Church. One is a photo from only a few years after its completion (probably before 1910) while the other is an image from Google Earth street view. The old site is familiar to a modern day observer: the causeway still has the same shape, the reservoir still runs under the same stone bridge, and even the power lines still run along the road.

Yet the comparison between the two photos also shows a distinct passage of time. Even without the obvious image of modern day vehicles on a paved road, the trees on the opposite shore now form a leafy green block rather than a grove of a few trees on a hillside. Something as simple as the passage of time can be so fascinating and moving.