This edition’s Mystery Photo shows mansard roofs, reminding you of traditional architecture from an European castle. But are they? Figure out where this is and send your thoughts to elliott@gwinnettforum.com. Be sure to include your hometown.
ONLY ONE PERSON identified the cruise ship and location of the last Mystery Photo. It came from George Graf of Palmyra, Va., who said that the photo was taken from “The Battery which lies under the slopes of Signal Hill in St. John’s, Newfoundland.” He added: “More specifically, the yellow house in the photo is on Battery Road and received the City of St. John’s 2015 Heritage Award. Also, the Oceana Insignia cruise ship is heading out of St. John’s harbor into ‘The Narrows,’ then into the North Atlantic Ocean. Additional info. Signal Hill is a hill which overlooks the city of St. John’s. The first transatlantic wireless transmission was received here by Guglielmo Marconi on 12 December 1901. The Battery is home to Chain Rock, a land outcropping to which a large chain and anti-submarine boom were attached during World War II connecting to Fort Amherst in order to prevent the entry of German U-boats into the harbor.”
Whew! It was a difficult Mystery Photo, so we asked Mr. Graf how he learned all this from identifying the simple photo. His response is worthy of publication, perhaps to help others search out clues in trying to identify Mystery Photos.
He says: “It was more difficult than usual, at least for me. There were few clues and since the only place in Canada I’ve ever been is Niagara Falls, I couldn’t rely on memories.
“The first clue was the “O” logo on the cruise ship exhaust stack. It took some digging to find it was a small cruise ship called Oceana, but they had a number of cruise ships. So, looked at all the photos of their ships and counted windows on the stern of the ships, which I isolated as the Insignia cruise ship as the best match.
“Next was looking at all the itineraries of the Insignia line, which was discouraging since it sails all over the North Atlantic and Baltic to many destinations that are chilly and foggy, which gave too many possibilities since your photo might not even be at a port stop.
“So I went back to the photo and saw power lines above ground going over the top of the yellow house. A helpful clue for me since living in Germany with the U.S. Army, I remembered that most all power lines are buried underground in Europe. So I figured it was somewhere on our side of the North Atlantic outside of Europe.
“Not seeing palm trees seemed to eliminate any isolated trips to tropical destinations. First I tried Greenland on a hunch, but nothing looked remotely possible. Next I saw the Insignia had a port call at Bar Harbor, Maine, which was extremely close to your last Mystery Photo answer, but no images looked promising.
“Next stop after Bar Harbor was St. John’s. I looked at lots of images and the harbor entrance seemed to fit the image. I went to Google Satellite view and looked at views from each side of the harbor and the Signal Hill side seemed like a possibility. I went to Google Maps a number of times with street views of the harbor and trying to find any address with “53” as the number. No dice. Couldn’t find a street address match, but I kept looking. Finally, I struck an image with the search terms of ‘53, Yellow, St John’s, Signal Hill’ and a few others. About 75 images into the list, I saw the exact yellow house from a different angle. I got the exact address and typed it in. I found out about the Heritage Award at that address and the view matched your photo , though no fog or cruise ship in the view. So, that is a long story made longer as to how I found the answer to the Mystery Photo.”
Lots of people enjoy trying to identify these Mystery Photos, but George takes the cake in sticking to it!
— eeb
LAGNIAPPENew mural depicts side of building at key Suwanee intersection
Roving Photographer Frank Sharp caught sight of a new mural in Gwinnett, on the side of Garland Brothers building at Buford Highway and Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road. Produced by 17 year old Alexandra Sorto of Suwanee, it was her first mural and now beautifully enhances this setting. Other cities in Gwinnett either now have murals depicting scenes from their past, or are planning to have murals painted on vacant walls in their towns. Sharp made the photo with his Canon Rebel camera with EF 10-18 lens.
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