Rephotography

Photo: Riverside Ave. Circa 1930, McCalister

This project is meant as an exercise in identifying exact locations for rephotography for historical geomorphological comparisons.

Results

Rephotography of LS71545 and LS1067 from the Landscape Change Program

LS71545. Riverside ave. First photo Circa 1930, by McCallister, via UVM Special Collections. Second Photo 24 Sept 2020 by Mark Hehlen

Looking southwest, new wood fence to right, steam roller to left and elm trees with leaves on (summer). Car in distance. Road being excavated for widening and sidewalk.

Photo taken at 44.4877310N 73.1874190 W, Azimuth of the shot is 205 degrees. This photo show Riverside Ave in Burlington Vermont looking SSW near the intersection of Riverside with Colchester Ave, near the Winooski Bridge. There are no longer power lines on the right, they have been replaced with street lamps. The Salmon Hole parking lot is on the right near the crest of the road. To the left is a heavily wooded area of mostly young trees supporting the houses along Colchester ave. Sedan used for scale comparison to the original photo of the directory The original 1930's photo shows an old gas governor station with associated tanks to the left of the road near the crest of the immediate rise, which can be located from a 1998 photo (LS25957).

Ls1067. Culvert Under Riverside ave. First photo 1932, via UVM Special Collections. Second Photo 24 Sept 2020 by Mark Hehlen

The historic photo shows a man standing in a stream near a culvert below Riverside Avenue. Very few trees are on the bank or in the stream's riparian zone. Alluvium is visible in the streambed. A wooden fence lines the road above. (Taken from Landscape Change Project LS 1067 Description)

A second opinion on the location of the long lost 1932 Culvert under Riverside Ave. This photo shows considerable fill of refuse and asphalt used to shore up the weakening slope of a lot on Riverside Avenue. Trees and their root systems are curving with the motion of the soils (trees with knees), while sparse vegetation grows between them. Shot in September 2020. This photo was taken at 44.4879472, -73.1959163. The azimuth of the shot was 246 degrees. Evidence this is the correct location is 1.) A newspaper article, "Washout Rips Riverside Ave Third Time". Burlington Free Press. Tuesday Nov. 22, 1955, pg 13, which claims a crew was attempting to excavate an "old" culvert there at the site of the historic 1955 landslide. 2.) a 1872 US coast survey map shows a culvert at this location and not any other stream drainage route on Riverside Ave. 3.) 1962 Aerial Photo of the post-landslide area shows extensive fill from the old culvert location to create new lots on the North side of Riverside Ave.

Evidence for siting LS71545

LS71545 is a photograph of Riverside ave circa 1930, according to UVM Special Collections in the (Bailey)/Howe Library. Near the peak of the road on the left is a gas tank and a small brick building. This building matches a 1998 photo in the collection, LS25957. Sandborn Fire Insurance maps (up to 1950) of the area show only one gas governer station aprox behind 442 Colchester Ave, in Insurance sector 48. insurance sector 31 (the other section of Riverside ave) shows no gas governor stations.

Looking SW down Riverside ave and walking backwards (from a projection of 442 Colchester ave onto Riverside ave), passing cars were used to scale the aproximate distance of the original photo.

My photo was taken at 44.4877310 N latitude, 73.1874190 W longitude, azimuth 205°.

Evidence for siting LS1067

LS1067 is a photo showing a culvert under Riverside ave in 1932, according to the UVM Special Collections at (Baily)/Howe Library.

The 1906 Survey Topo Map shows three drainage gullies that cross Riverside ave, but only the largest of these has a culvert.

After the 1955 landslide, The Vermont Free Press stated crews were working to excavate an 'old' culvert, while filling in new lots to the west of the landslide location.

The 1962 and 1984 maps show considerable fill to support lots on the north side of Riverside ave in the area that failed from 1955.

While this evidence is inconclusive, I believe it provides the best guess for the rephoto of the location of the missing culvert.

My photo was shot at 44.4879472 N latitude, 73.1959163 W longitude, azimuth 246°.