Now & Then: Fredericktown’s Mill St. in 1912 and 111 years later

FREDERICKTOWN — It’s fun to catch glimpses of familiar spots in historical images.

Sometimes there are significant differences, yet other times the veil between now and then is pretty thin.

This image of the curve outside of Fredericktown on East Mill Street is recognizable in either version.

The vintage image is a postcard from 1912 from the Knox Time Collection that features a dirt road and a lamp post.

I have no idea if that is a gas light, nor if the village of Fredericktown would have extended such amenities to the far side of the Kokosing, on the way out of town, or if the lamp was owned and operated by the resident of the house.

If that was the case, it may have been gas, electric, or even just holding some sort of candle or lantern.

The modern image comes from Google Maps in May of 2023, and it shows a road that has now for decades been paved with asphalt, certainly making it easier to travel.

The lamp post is not surprisingly long gone, but there are still many electrical and telephone lines strung along the road.

The houses in the postcard appear to still be there, though two seem to have had additions.

Missing now are the picturesque fences that once outlined the narrower road of a century ago. It also appears that the trees along the road were later casualties of the widening of the thoroughfare.

The background, though, suggests that trees have been restored in the surrounding woods back from the road.

Last, and probably least importantly of all, do my eyes deceive me, or is there something in the road just right of the lamp post?

It is small and the image isn’t perfectly clear, but I’m thinking it is possibly a chicken or a cat wandering along the road.