# The Lake, Beardsley Park, Bridgeport, Conn.

- Local asset: beardsley-lake-1905.jpg (3405 × 2193), JPEG derived from the archival TIFF; source image otherwise unchanged. The SVG viewport crops the display, not the preserved asset.
- Creator/publisher: The Rotograph Co.; cataloged creation/publication date 1905. Exact exposure date unknown.
- Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Postcard Collection.
- Source: https://www.loc.gov/item/2025663392/
- Digital ID: LC-DIG-pcrd-1a01725
- Original TIFF: https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/pcrd/1a00000/1a01000/1a01700/1a01725u.tif
- Rights advisory: No known restrictions on publication (LOC catalog, checked 2026-09-28).
- Format: tinted photographic/photomechanical postcard, not a contemporary photograph of James.

## Interpretation boundary

Used as an earlier historical view of the park. James's 1942 registration independently names Beardsley Park as his place of employment. This image does not show James, establish his work duties or commute, or establish the park's precise appearance in 1942. The visible caption keeps the two dates distinct. No claim of emotional state, retirement or final years is inferred from the setting.

## Optional presentation animation

The story opening overlays a feathered, water-only canvas that gently displaces the postcard's existing reflection pixels. The trees, bridge and shoreline remain the still source image; no new people or activities are added. This is an interpretive presentation effect, not historical footage. The caption identifies the animation and links directly to the unchanged local postcard. The shared motion preference (including reduced-motion defaults) disables the overlay. Animation suspends while the scene is offscreen or the document is hidden.


## Publication scope

This is a project-authored research or interpretation note, not an original historical record. Its publication review covers this text only, not the linked images, maps or documents. Keep source credits and uncertainty labels with any permitted reuse. Original project-authored writing in this note is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), to the extent the project controls the rights. Credit Ed McPadden / The McPadden Project, link to this original note and the license, and indicate changes. Quoted third-party passages, linked media and source datasets or route geometry retain their own terms and are not included. Publication assessments are not additional restrictions on licensed writing; retaining evidence limits is research good practice.

[Current per-file decisions](../downloads/founding-edition-asset-register.json).