Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce

Kevin Johnson, photo archivist at Penobscot Marine Museum, will present old photos of the St. George Peninsula at the St. George Grange Hall, Wiley's Corner Road, on Thursday, May 31, at 7:30 p.m. The presentation, "Greetings From St. George: Selections from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection," will include 75- to 100-year-old images of St. George, Port Clyde, Tenants Harbor, Martinsville and Long Cove. A potluck supper will precede the presentation at 6:30 p.m.

According to Johnson, showing old photos to the public is a great way to do historic research. "Presentations like this generate valuable oral history from the audience," he said. "Old-timers see these images and talk about what they remember: who lived there, what the businesses were, when they changed hands, when a town's landscape changed – events that might not have made it into the local newspaper." Johnson added that information gathered in such talks may be added to the museum's archives, preserving important elements of a town's history.

The Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Co. was a Belfast-based postcard publisher that documented tens of thousands small-town scenes during the first half of the 20^th century. Penobscot Marine Museum holds the majority of the company's photos in its archives, most of them on old-fashioned glass-plate negatives.

"Greetings From St. George" is sponsored by the St. George Historical Society. Donations will be welcomed at the door. For more information, contact James Skoglund at 207-372-8893.