The Normandy in 1877. (Photo courtesy Newcastle Historical Society)
On Saturday, July 16, the Newcastle Historical Society will host a photographic exhibit and sale outside of the museum in the parking lot at the corner of Pump Street and Main Street in Newcastle next to the town office. The exhibit will be on display from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Selected photographs from the Newcastle Historical Society’s Dinsmore-Flye negative collection will be presented. In addition there will be a special exhibit titled “Then and Now.” Photographs of earlier days in Newcastle will be presented along with photos taken in Newcastle today by local photographer Jessica Picard. The contrast between the photos evokes memories of the past as well as reminders of how much has changed as Newcastle evolves to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The Dinsmore-Flye negative collection owned by the Newcastle Historical society contains over 60,000 negatives dating from the late 1800s through the 1960s. The society is engaged in scanning and organizing the negatives to preserve these snapshots of the past. To date there are thousands of negatives that still need to scanned.
Ivan Flye was a local photographer who established the Pictorial Studio on Academy Hill Road in 1946. Carroll Dinsmore joined the business as a photographer and eventually took over as manager. Flye was able to acquire early images from photographers who had worked in Damariscotta and Newcastle beginning in the late 19th century. As a result the collection presents reminders of changes in Newcastle over a span of at least 100 years.
Picard graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2019 with a degree in journalism and communications and currently lives in Newcastle. She works for the Maine Department of Labor, writing and taking photographs in her spare time.
The Newcastle Historical Society is a nonprofit organization. All proceeds from the sale of photographs will benefit the society.
