Johnson Hill Revisited and Amherst Town Hall – Then and Now

Johnson Hill looking south on S. Main Street in Amherst

Back in July I did a "then and now" post on Johnson Hill in Amherst. At the time, Col. Matt Nahorn of the New Indian Ridge Museum kindly left a comment explaining that "the name comes from an early settler, Salmon Johnson, who bought land from the founder of Amherst's downtown area, Josiah Harris."

Since then, I received in my email a copy of an undated vintage postcard (above) of the hill from the other direction (from the webmaster of the Oberlin in the Past Facebook page). So, on Saturday I went out to get a "now" shot from that perspective, as well as a better companion photo of one of the original vintage postcards.

Just as it was when I was trying to get my shot back in July, there was an incredible amount of traffic along that stretch of the road. Rather than sensibly park somewhere and get a shot on foot, I cruised back and forth several times, shooting out the window and trying to frame the shot from memory. I finally did get a usable shot (below).

Like I said, I was hoping to to improve on one of my original 'then and nows' from July. Here is one of the vintage postcards of the view looking north (below).

Courtesy Amherst Public Library

And here's my "now" companion shot from Saturday (below).

After driving back and forth so many times, I was happy to pull over and grab a nice shot of the old Town Hall so it too could get the 'then and now' treatment.

Courtesy Amherst Public Library