The Flickr Vintagehouses Image Generatr

Macon, Georgia
Leica If, Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mm f/4 lens and Kodak Portra 400 film.

Macon, Georgia
Holga 120N, 720nm infrared filter with Catlabs 320 pro film pushed to ISO 1600.

After decades of storms, salt air damage and occasional flooding from Long Island Sound, some of these old beach cottages from the early 20th century looked a bit shabby!😁

That's a significantly younger 14 year old me hanging out at a friend's summer cottage near Merwin Avenue.

Taken by the friend whose family owned this place using a 1950s Kodak brownie camera found at a Goodwill thrift store loaded up with a roll of 120 size Kodak Verichrome film.

On nicer days, however, my friends and I used to enjoy the freedom of biking and walking wherever our young minds decided to explore during that particular day.

We also swam at the beaches of Long Island Sound across Merwin Avenue from our house in addition to other nearby beaches. Each one was different - some very sandy, others rocky and others a mix of both.

This is an extremely abbreviated list of all the activities we used to do! I could write an entire book on that subject.

As long as my sister and I returned home for lunch and then a few hours later for dinner, everything was just fine with my parents.

Unfortunately, our cherished freedoms of summer suddenly came to a complete halt in early September with the start of the first day of school. (Oh Bummer!)

He lived in the old cottage seen here, which is long gone. Today, it's just an empty gravel lot. Across the street, the Village Bistro restaurant stands now.

Let's call the phone number on the truck and see if old Emerson picks up. Kinda doubt it .

The shot was taken with a Kodak X-104 on 126 Kodacolor film on the way to the Woodmont branch library at the intersection of Merwin and Chapel Steet.

Sometime around 1970, the three 19th century ornate beachfront houses were torn down to be replaced with a tall "modern" condominium. This view from 1963 provides a nice time portal into when the neighborhood still contained homes and cottages from the postcard era of the early 20th century. Looking at all the trees in the background, the area was significantly more semi-rural compared to today.

I snapped this black and white with my Kodak Instamatic 104. It's a view of a typical morning at the Crescent Beach.

From the 1950s through 2007, the sand on this beach was annually replenished with sand dredged from Long Island Sound.

Once the sand replenishing stopped, the beach quickly returned to its natural state of barnacle-covered rocks, crevices and became unusable as a good place to swim.

One of my Dad's Kodachrome slides showing summer fun at a beach along the Milford and Woodmont shoreline. Most of these slides portray daily life from decades ago.

I remember how the adults always hung around in this corner of the beach while kids ran all over and swam in the refreshingly chilly water of Long Island Sound.

it is always nice to come across well maintained vintage houses such as this beauty which is possibly over 75yo

My Dad took this on Kodachrome film at the Anchor Beach in Woodmont, Connecticut. It was just one image from his massive collection of slides from the 1950s through the early 2000s. Kodachrome colors were incredibly realistic and look brand new decades later.

Another shot taken with my Pentax Auto 110. For about 2 years, I was fascinated with that camera and its capabilities using tiny 110 film.

A shot of 83 Merwin Avenue looking toward an older car and Long Island Sound in the background. Today, this side of the street is filled with modern condominiums and townhomes with a beautiful waterfront view.

Taken with a Pentax Auto-110, the smallest SLR camera ever made using 110 film.

If there's one image which best represents just how much this view has changed from a shoreline filled with trees and multicolored 19th century cottages to today's utterly bland appearance of condos and modern houses, this is it. Check out the cottage in the center with the giant peace sign.

My dad took this on a Kodachrome slide using his 1950s Kodak Retina 35mm camera.

I used to enjoy watching these decrepit old vestiges from the past going down piece by piece and snapped photos of their demolition with my trusty Kodak Pocket Instamatic 40.

Once a beach resort for tourists from the 1870 through the 1950s, the shoreline was still lined with dozens of 19th century beach cottages. Some were full-time residences and others were summer houses for people from New Haven and even as far away as New York City.

Very few of these cottages still exist as most of them have been replaced with modern houses and McMansions.

If your browser supports Flickr Notes, I've added a number of them explaining what used to be there during my childhood in the 1960s and later teen years in the 1970s.

from Darss Germany

Since the area has been heavily suburbanized over time, this view would be almost unrecognizable to the people who live here now. I miss it from the era when it consisted of the remnants of an early 20th century beach resort as shown in this late afternoon view from 48 years ago.

A view of life in Long Island City which lies across the East River from Manhattan as the relentless construction of the massive Queensboro Bridge completely changes the character of the still partially wooded neighborhood.