Once in a while I’ll wind up making the same photograph on two trips down the same road, separated by some years. It’s always interesting to see how things have changed.
Here’s the northwest corner of the main intersection in Centerville, in eastern Indiana on the National Road/US 40, as it was in 2009 and then in 2021. As you can see, these facades have received some TLC.


I’ve driven the National Road from its beginning in Baltimore, MD to its end in Vandaila, IL. To read everything I’ve ever written about it, click here.
I have so many Berlin pictures from the early 2000s I am tempted to revisit these place and take the exact shots again. Could be a fun project…
I have a few photos from East Berlin in 1984. I’d love to find the same places now and rephotograph them.
I know you had a few blog posts about your time there. I did recognize most places and maybe I can take a few shots for you…not sure when cause I am mostly working from home and not in Berlin but maybe there is an opportunity in the near future.
If you ever do that, it would be amazing. Hopefully one day I can make it back and do it myself!
Jim I’m curious about how you remember you took a near identical photo before – and then how you find it in your archives? Do you tag/label photos by location?
I didn’t remember. I searched on “Centerville” in Flickr to find what I’d photographed before.
Birthdays, that is what causes this ;)
Time marches on.
I like the new look of the old buildings. They have colour. I think too many small cities/towns in the northeast USA to paint with the same drab grey/beige/brown pallet.
Compared to places in Italy, India, Mexico, etc., it’s quite dull.
I prefer it when the buildings go unpainted and show their original brick color, but once you paint them you’re pretty much in it forever. Then I’m all for color.