"The Weston & Brainerd Sawmill, the Bragg Shovel Handle Factory and the Stinchfield Carding Mill make up the group of buildings in the center. Two or more of the Bailey Oilcloth buildings show in the distance, breaking the skyline. The Parker residence on Alder Street shows over the Weston Mill. The John Turner home on West Front Street is visible still higher up and to the right.

The picture is evidently taken to show the effects of high water, as part of the underpinning is gone from the the Stinchfield Mill and flood damage is very apparent in the back of the Bragg Shovel Handle Factory. The logs in the river are characteristic of that day. The timber in subsequent years averaged smaller and in more recent times has almost entirely given way to four foot pulp wood.

~Roland T. Patten, Custodian of Historical Views, 1929"