A WINTER SCENE IN BLOOMSBURG

       A heavy snow had left its imprint on Market Square and made travel on the streets difficult, except for the gentleman in his one horse sleigh.   Solitude of the square was further compromised as the two women in the foreground ignored the wintry elements in taking a walk.   The photographer must have thought the snow was of some note to have captured the streetscape for posterity.   He would have done his work sometime after 1908 and mostly likely before 1920.  

       The two large inanimate objects, frozen in place by time, arrived at the square at different times.   The first to appear was the Stroup Fountain placed there by Town Council in 1892.   The Civil War Monument came sixteen years later when the Columbia County Commissioners had it erected in 1908.   Facing each other they now dominate the square.   If you look closely at the fountain with a stork at its apex, you can see light bulbs attached to the two pans and even from the bird’s wings.   Looking past the monument, with its stone soldiers acting as sentries, you can tell this was not a first day snow.   Those who traversed Market Street had left a trail of discolored snow, and there is evidence that some of residents have spent time shoveling their walks.