Herald Holds Pictorial Memories Dating Back to 1880s

The Morrisons Cove Herald has been around for over a century and has recorded much of the area's history, with not only stories but photos as well.

Upstairs at the Park building, in the corner of a storage room, sits Tracie Madden and Kim Unger–two people responsible for sorting through the many photographs the Herald still has.

According to them, there are thousands of photos they have to go through and organize.

"We're organizing photos by month and year and separating them depending on if they depict names and places," said Madden.

For each picture, Madden and Unger try to figure out when it happened, where it was, and who is in it. Based on their findings, they organize the photos by date.

Many of the photos, though, are not identifiable. "There's a lot of photos that we don't know who the people are," they said.

If the photo is not identifiable with a name or place, they have a "no identification" file.

If there's no date, it goes in the "no information" box.

Although many photos can't be identified, being able to go through decades of memories is something they consider fascinating.

"I thought the most interesting photos we've come across are old photos of them making Cove Mountain Road over to meet up with Route 26," Madden said.

Sorting through the pictures also has them seeing personal memories as well.

"I found a picture of my father–he was a schoolteacher–and I found a photo of my daughter," said Unger.

With this task, they have found very old photos, going as far back as the 1800s. The oldest photo they have come across so far is from 1885, which was the first year the Morrisons Cove Herald was published.

The photograph is from Hopewell and depicts seven girls, all unknown, except for one. The only girl named is Della Karns Eckard.

Even though much about the picture is a mystery, having this, as well the other old, physical images, keeps the memories alive.