Did I manage to find a photo of Slater House? Maybe I will know soon.
Recently, while checking to see how far away Emilee Morrison*, my 1c3r (first cousin three times removed) lived from Slater House when she was born, I made an important discovery in regards to my Slater House research project.
In all the times I’d been comparing antique maps to Google Earth, I hadn’t tilt-zoomed in from an angle so I never realized that the lush forest alongside the highway was actually a higher elevation, with a view that overlooks the neighborhood where Slater House stood. It’s called Garret Mountain. There’s even a highway rest stop there with a scenic viewing point and a playground. This is great news because I can probably find TONS of aerial-ish photos of the neighborhood over the years.
In the past, I’d only looked straight down at the Google Earth images because I was trying to match them up with the lines on maps from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. This time, I was matching up Google Earth with two photos taken by George Tice, a tenth generation New Jersey native. The photos were taken in 1968 and are currently displayed online only from the San Francisco Museum of Art. (View from Garret Mountain #1 and View from Garrett Mountain #2).
Another photo in the collection depicts a row of houses labeled “Houses, Slater Street, September 1970” Try as I might, I can’t make out any addresses. There’s a distinctive church steeple in the background, so I can search for churches that existed in 1970 in that neighborhood. I don’t see the steeple in the 1968 panorama photos from Garret Mountain.
I will not be deterred. I hunted over 7 years to find a photo of my maternal great grandmother. In 1923, she died at age 24, and I was lucky enough to find a photo taken of her in 1915. Slater House lived well into the days of consumer-level photography and I absolutely know I will find photos of it. Mark my word If it’s not in the current George Tice collection, then I will find it elsewhere. In the meantime, go check out his work. And since the holidays are coming, you should know that I’d love to own copies of the photo books he’s published.
* Emilee Morrison, like my great grandmother Margaret Curtis Brown, was a grand daughter of Elizabeth McDonald. Their mothers were sisters and both grew up in Slater House.