This image is another of the old photographs and postcards provided to me by Merry Seppala of Pigeon Cove. As you can see, it shows a horse-drawn sleigh, the driver, and five children, on a snow-covered street. The picture was taken in front of 84 Granite Street. The stone wall and columns are still there, as is the house that you see on the left.

In the distance, anchored offshore, is what looks to be a four-masted schooner, no doubt waiting to take on a load of granite from the Rockport Granite Company.

I previously posted another image taken from almost exactly the same location. It shows Charles Cleaves, the photographer and lawyer, and his cousin Millie. In that photo, from 1910, you can see the same stone wall and columns and the same rock outcroppings in the background. Merry Seppala is related to Cleaves and the photograph above could possibly be his, although it not identified as such.

The reverse of this real-photo postcard has the inscription, “Your old friend John Hooper.” Hooper may be the sleigh driver, but that is just conjecture.

As for dating this picture, the particular brand of postcard backing used to create this real photo postcard was manufactured from 1910 to 1930.  The Rockport Granite Company (assuming that is why the schooner is there) operated until 1933. I cannot date this precisely but it was most likely somewhere between 1915 to 1925, so I’ll call it 1920.