This Then & Now view shows several buildings that aren’t there any more so there isn’t much to compare, but it highlights a very interesting correlation between the present and the past that only this particular postcard can point out.
The building from 1909 that is depicted in the old postcard is the Purdy Building. It has been gone from the South Main Street scenery for more than 40 years.
Today the site is used as a parking lot next to the Mechanics Bank drive through.
The interesting part is not the building itself, but rather the lighted arch that spanned South Main in 1909 that is shown in the postcard.
When standing at the same vantage point today, the building in the foreground is gone, the background buildings are missing too, and there is a lot of sky in the picture. But the view includes a curious echo from the past: there is an arch shaped sign in position placed by Mechanics Bank, and it is not far from the old arch of 1909.
It is like a surreal dream version of the historic scene; like somehow the shutter picked up a slightly distorted bit of the past included in today.
