Who Were These Guys?

I purchased this interesting image about a week ago at an antique show down in Portsmouth, NH. It is an old beat up tintype, made probably the decade immediately following the Civil War (1865-1875). The man on the left is a fairly handsome chap, with a nice felt halt, jacket and striped vest as well. It makes me think he had a little bit of money to spend, and he clearly did not do manual labor to earn his living. The younger man on the right is not dressed quite as nice, with what looks like a white linen or cotten jacket and the big poofy hat doesn't seem to fit him quite right. Yet there is something that drew my eye to this picture and captured my imagination. The two men are too close in age to be father and son, but they clearly had some sort of friendly relationship, enough to pose for a picture together that has survived over a century!

Bridge over the Salmon Falls River

The railroad first came to the town where I live, Rollinsford, NH, in 1841 when it was the last stop in New Hampshire on the Boston & Maine Railroad. By 1849, the first wooden bridge over the churning Salmon Falls River into Maine was built only a few hundred yeards from my house. In 1860, that bridge suddenly collapsed but luckily no one was killed! The steel bridge seen in this photo was built during the late 19th century and is still used today by the Downeaster train which goes from Portland to Boston, and gigantic freight trains. Sadly, none of the trains stop here anymore, they just fly by! This postcard is dated in ink on the front "September 27, 1906", but this view from the pedestrian bridge nearby has changed very little over the decades. Sometimes I wonder when they are going to have to build a new bridge, it will be quite an engineering project!