The Best of Lafayette
by Fern Martin and Paula Woods
Only $29.95 plus tax and shipping
This is a publication of over 200 of the very best photographs of early Lafayette gleaned from thousands of images in the archives of the Tippecanoe County Historical Association. Large, high-resolution reproductions are utilized to ensure that this photographic history is not only “looked at” but thoroughly “read” as well.
Each photo is a story in itself. Captions and text by noted authors, Fern Martin and Paula Woods, explain the facts, but reading the photo generates many questions beyond the facts. In reading a photo, it is important to place the image in the context of the times. Lafayette was a much different city a hundred years ago; it looked different and even smelled different. The people, too, were different, and, while we are sharing their lives momentarily through these photos, they are not necessarily early versions of ourselves. Street scenes, lifestyles, and group ensembles need to be examined for detail—sometimes even with a magnifying glass—to reveal a more accurate tale of life in early Lafayette.
“The Best of Lafayette” was published for your viewing pleasure and as an in-depth photo study of the pathways and patterns of Lafayette past. It is a journey you will long remember and cherish.
Cover image: Downtown Lafayette in 1875, photographed from Lingle Street Hill. In the foreground we can see the Wabash Railroad tracks, and the intersection of Fourth and Romig streets. Some of the city’s early business and manufacturing establishments are visible along the Wabash, and in the distance on the bluffs overlooking the river is Chauncey, the town that would be renamed West Lafayette in 1888. Purdue University, located on the western fringes of Chauncey, had opened for classes the year before.
