Signpine & the R. P. Gray Store

I came across this site in 2020, when I was just meandering my way around Gloucester. While I was sizing it up, the man whose property it was on came and talked with me. Even went and got the photograph he's holding. At one time this was the hubbub of a small community and logging operation. The building was also a hotel for truckers.

There was a lumber mill across the street that provided a lot of customers.

This was provided to me by Jill Peters, a local historian.

This is Wes, who still lives next to the property, and, like many people who see me working, especially if I'm using the RB67, he came out and asked me if I was a photographer. I told him who I was - my history as a photographer, showed him one of my magazines, asked him if it was okay to document the store, and if he could tell me anything about it's history.

So he went and fetched a photograph from the early days of the store.

This is the photograph he’s holding. Imagine being that photographer. And this is the power of a photograph - to stop time and preserve it, long after the subject may no longer exist.