Question: The area in this photo looks a lot different now than it did when this photo was taken in 1908 or ‘09. Can you identify where it was taken and what all the construction was?

Last week’s answer: The gentlemen in last week’s undated photo were the tobacco merchants that had come to town to buy the tobacco that the farmers had worked so hard to grow. The previous History Mystery told about the extensive work that had to be performed by the farmers. If you recall, tobacco was very labor intensive. The growers worked hard to produce a good crop so that they would be paid well and therefore be able to pay their bills.

Remember it was called a “cash” crop, so there was also some anxiety because the amount the farmer was paid was dependent on what the buyer thought about the quality of the product.

If you look at the newspaper from the tobacco era, you will see just how important this crop was. Every week there was a good-sized column about the growing and selling of tobacco world wide.

The men in the photo are as follows: Front row: (left to right) M. Comerford, Edwin Babcock, Wallace Tappan, Thomas Emerick, Erwin Fairbanks, Joseph Henshaw, Lawrence Upson. Back row (l to r): John T. Skinner, James W. Upson, Walter McMullin, Unknown, Fred Frankle, Gus Bernach, Sol Levi, Isaac Frankle.

Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo before the deadline, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.