At the foot of Pearl Street in October 1887, Portland civil engineers posed with a survey transit before a sewer extension into Back Bay. William S. Edwards, on the left, and Edward H. Foster, seated on a log, worked in the office of City Engineer William Goodwin in City Hall.

The tool of their trade, a survey transit on a metal tripod, is prominently displayed in the center foreground, beside the engineers.

On the right, in the middle ground, carpenter M. McDermott (left), holding a long-handled ax, and P. Boyce (right), holding a saw, rested their free hands on a pile of squared beams. Behind a sawhorse, to the far right, carpenter G. Knight looked on. In the background, visible behind Foster's hat, carpenter Jim Kelly posed, with arms akimbo.