Snapshots from years ago offer photographic glimpse of sites then and now

CRYSTAL RIVER — Without tale-telling, photographs or physical evidence, history may be extinct.

Photo illustration/Special to the Chronicle

Photographs collected from Florida Memory, an online portrait archive of Florida, are provided for the re-photography exhibit opening Friday. A “view of visitors to the Indian mounds at Crystal River Archaeological State Park” shows an image of a photo taken in 1975 in front of a present-day shot by photographer Rebecca O’Sullivan, which will be among the now-and-then photo illustrations to be displayed.

Special to the Chronicle

This picture illustrates the view of a 1985 excavation conducted by Dr. Jeffrey M. Mitchem and Dr. Brent R. Weisman at the Crystal River archaeological site. With the current photo (inset), taken by Rebecca O’Sullivan, it demonstrates the process of lining up the old with the new.

Many archaeologists discover the past through clues inhabitants leave behind. In addition to pottery and stone tools utilized for investigation, more recent artifacts reveal connections between the past and present.

With the advancement in technology, photography now offers the opportunity for history to come alive. From 6 to 

8 p.m. Friday, archaeologists will reveal “Then and Now: The Crystal River Site in Photographs,” an exhibit opening at the Crystal River Archaeological State Park museum, 3400 N. Museum Pointe, Crystal River.

The free program and exhibit unites old and new photographs of the site, along with photos collected from Florida Park Service’s archives.

“It is an opportunity to see an interesting way of looking at the site by taking old photographs and superimposing them onto new photographs from the same perspective,” said Jeff Moates, director of the west central region of the Florida Public Archaeology Network. “It’s an interesting way to connect the history of the site through old and new photographs.”

Photographs from the public are requested but not required.

“If the public has pictures that they know about and are willing to let us scan them, we want them to bring them,” Moates said. “They will be used as part of the archives for the state park as a collection of photographs throughout the years of the archeological site.”

A scanning station will be available.

“If they bring a couple (of photographs) we can scan them in and they can walk away with them,” Moates said. “We want to just add them to the park’s archives. If they bring in a ton of pictures, we would request to borrow them on a temporary basis to scan them in.” 

The Crystal River archaeological site is a prehistoric mound complex and a National Historic Landmark.

“We hope that it will draw some folks (who) know about the site and may have visited when they were children,” Moates said. 

The re-photography exhibit opening is sponsored by the Florida Public Archaeology Network and the Friends of Crystal River State Parks.

For information, call Jason Moser at 352-795-0208 or Jeff Moates at 813- 396-2327.

Contact Chronicle reporter Eryn Worthington at 352-563-5660, Ext. 1334, or eworthington@chronicleonline.com.