Quote:
Originally Posted by Tourmaline
Glad I am not the only one who muses about highs and lows.
The pictures taken from the Westminster strongly suggest - to my amateur eyes - the possibility that the W somehow factored into the photo that raised so many questions. On the subject of dating and placing downtown landmarks, I defer to those with superior knowledge of the area, such as yourself and Flying W. But some coincidences are hard to ignore. Of course, the photo could have been part of a pre-construction environmental impact study or something to establish the anticipated view from the Westminster. And, there were those rarely-discussed "sightings" after those kegs went missing from the Eastside Brewery.  |
The height looks similar, but St. Vibiana's is too far away here for the vantage point to be Main and 4th. That placement also doesn't account for City Hall not being in the photo. I think I can just barely make out the synagogue that was right next door to City Hall, but built several years earlier. I do agree the photo appears to be cropped, but there's enough room near the left edge for City Hall to show up if it actually was there. (The Court House should be visible on Pound Cake, too, if this were 1888 or later.)
BTW, a hot air balloon can be made quite stationary by securing three ropes 120 degrees apart around the circumference of the gondola, then staking those ropes on the ground at the points of an equilateral triangle. The lift provided by the hot air would pull on all three ropes with equal force, thereby creating a 'tripod' of virtually any height desired. On a calm day, such a airborne platform would be just about as stable as if one were standing on the ground.