This real photo post card (RPPC) shows the pharmacy of R.M. Laird located at 193 Clinton Avenue. Directly behind it was the Johnson home at 160 Monmouth Street. The following was written in pencil on the back of the card: ” I have put a cross over the Johnson’s house” . The 1898 Holbrook’s City Directory has a listing for a Mrs. Mary C. Johnson at 160 Monmouth Street but no Mr. Johnson is listed. In the far left corner the post card is the edge of the stone steps of the Clinton Avenue Baptist Church located at 198 Clinton Avenue.

The detail of the photo is so sharp you can actually read the sign on Laird’s Pharmacy discern horse droppings on Monmouth Street. This street scene which was so typical and unremarkable 117 years ago is note worthy for those same reasons in 2017. The writing on the front of the postal is original to the card.