More often than not, as one year closes and another opens, most members of my family travel together and spend some down-time before the next rush of activity kicks off the New Year. Murrell’s Inlet, a little south of Myrtle Beach, SC, is one of our favorite places.

Of course, toward the end of our time together, we must all get together for the obligatory “family photo.”  I wish I could say everyone is as excited about posing for the group shot as my wife Sandra is at having the photo taken.

I do my best to make the process as painless – and as quick – as possible. Inevitably, at least one person has eyes shut tight and another one or two are pouting because “I don’t want to have my picture made.”

Since Sandra is a visually-oriented, concrete thinker, then the photo is more important to her than to anyone else. And since I subscribe to the marital philosophy of “Happy Wife – Happy Life,” then I make sure to get that photo for her.

Which brings me to the subject at hand. On Saturday, June 28, I was at a table in Lovick’s Cafe with two Alan’s and Joker Joe. We lacked one person toward completing a pretty strong Texas Hold’em hand. Steve Lovick made a special trip to our table. I thought he might be placing a bet.

“Mike, before you leave, take a walk around the cafe and look at the photos on the wall.” I promised I would. Steve had acquired the negatives of a number of old photos of Kinston and had gotten them blown up into black and white works of historic art.

As I viewed the photos, I entered a Time Machine. These pictures capture images of Kinston as it appeared before I moved here in August of 1971. One shot was a view of a two-lane Vernon Avenue. I learned the photo was made somewhere near the 300-block of East Vernon. Since the time I have lived here, Vernon has always been four lanes. I was surprised to see houses resting beneath a line of stately trees.

Another picture captured a view of Parrott Hospital. I doubt most residents of Kinston and Lenoir County realize the significance of Parrott Hospital, but it was the first fully-staffed hospital in Kinston. The founding paperwork stipulated that part of the hospital was to focus on treating “charity cases.”

When the hospital opened in 1905, the institution was named the Robert Bruce McDaniel Memorial Hospital to honor the memory of James A. McDaniel’s son, who died in infancy the year before. Later, the name was changed to honor the two doctors instrumental in founding the hospital: Dr. James Marion Parrott and Dr. William Thomas Parrott.

Dr. William “Tom” Parrott had studied the use of X-ray machines in Germany. He brought his expertise to Kinston and, with the assistance of Mr. Frank of Jones County, built North Carolina’s first X-ray machine. Parrott Hospital officially opened a training facility for nurses in June of 1906. The hospital operated until 1973. It was demolished at the end of the 1970s.

I also saw an aerial photo of Kinston. I looked carefully to find landmarks I recognized. Once I saw the Lenoir County Courthouse, I could easily identify Queen Street, King Street and Herritage Avenue. Parked cars lined the main street of what was once called “The Magic Mile.”

The next time you are in Lovick’s, take a few minutes to survey the photos on the wall. Get a feel for the earlier version of the city we call home.

I want to close by again making a point I mentioned in an earlier column. When you make those family photos, or even photos that just portray individual family members, write names and dates on the photos.

Photographs are flashes from the past frozen in time. Those flashes turn from fireflies into lightning bolts when you include identifying information on them. Do not be so arrogant to think someone will pick up a photo of you 100 years from now – and know that photo is you.

Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.