When this handsome young man posed for Lewis Hine almost 100 years ago, neither he nor anyone else in this small factory city in the Berkshires would have imagined that the Eclipse Mill would one day become well-appointed housing for artists. In 2005, the larger of the two remaining brick buildings in the mill complex (not visible here) along the Hoosic River was renovated into condominiums with studios and loft spaces, establishing itself as one of the prime factors in an ongoing attempt to convert North Adams from a declining manufacturing center into a destination for cultural tourism, and an ex-urban living environment friendly to the so-called creative class.

When Joseph met up with the investigative photographer while standing on what used to be the trolley tracks on Union Street, he was probably thinking about going home to his house across the river on Front Street (not Fruit Street).