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Painted Woods Update

By Maureen A. Taylor

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PaintedWoods2.jpg

Richard Levine has taken on this mystery photo, which he originally thought was taken in Painted Woods, ND. We’ve emailed back and forth about his progress and I thought it was time to update all of you about what he’s been up to. This is the photo featured in two of the November columns of this blog; check out Part 2.

After this installment appeared online, Richard wrote to say that he now thought the photo was a wedding. He thinks that it could be his grandmother Rose Confeld (b. 1885) and her husband Samuel Levine (b.1883). They were married Aug. 15, 1905, at Kistler’s Hall in Minneapolis, Minn. The hall appears in city directories and in newspapers. His next step was to try to locate a photo of it from the Minnesota Historical Society.

He’s also compiled a list of second and third cousins to mail them a letter and a copy of this picture. He’s determined to figure out the significance of this photo!

I suggested trying to find a Sanborn Insurance atlas of the area around Kistler’s. These maps have construction details which would verify that the building was wood and also tell you something about the neighborhood. This photo appears to have been taken in a rural area.

Richard found a picture of Kistler’s from 1914. It shows how rural the area was. He also located a hand-drawn map from the 1920s that identifies a four-story Kistler building on the same street as the Kistler’s Hall. The hall is no longer at the junction of 6th Avenue N. and Lyndale Ave.; the area now has a freeway intersection.

He retraced his steps and went back to his family history. Now he’s investigating land his great-grandfather Joseph Confeld owned in Anoka County, Minn.

I’ll be back with the next update. Every week Richard gets closer to solving this mystery.


Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

  • Preserving Your Family Photographs
  • Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900
  • Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album
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