Downtown Elmira, NY - early 1900s

his one is another from Mike Paul's collection. Automobiles were beginning to appear on the streets of Downtown Elmira and Flanagan's Department Store was the center of it all. Situated on Water Street and nestled among the many proprietorships located there, Flanagan's had everything from soup to nuts in clothing, housewares and even hardware.

I first met Mike Paul at a Melbourne Elmira Day after having corresponded with him via e-mail several times about pictures he had sent to me for our Photo of the Month feature at SHS58.org. A lasting image of our first meeting will always be standing beside him out in the parking lot of Ryan's Steak House going through the trunk of his car looking at boxes upon boxes of photos he had brought with him to show me. We were both totally oblivious to the hot Florida afternoon sunshine beaming down upon us and the resulting sizzle coming from the blacktop surrounding us. We did that again several times at subsequent Elmira Days. I always looked forward to seeing him and talking with him about Elmira. And I always stopped everything when it came to looking at another of his photos of Elmira.

You can view some of Mike's photos of Elmira that he has shared with us by clicking here.