The story began when Wayne Jacobs discovered this colorized picture on Shorpy in early April of 2014. The original photo was taken in July of 1939 by Dorothea Lange, the famous photographer who shot those powerful pictures of the Dust Bowl during the Depression.

The detail in the photo, the advertising signs on the exterior of the gas station, and the men, all make this photo a unique “moment in time.”

“I also learned that her original photo was in Black and White of course, but that someone had recently colorized it, resulting in this amazing photograph.” – He says on his website.

Below are some alternative versions:

 

 

But here is where this story gets really interesting: The gas station in the photographs was located in the little crossroads community of Gordonton, North Carolina, and the building in the photograph (the gas station) is still standing – more than seventy years later!

Wayne Jacobs drove to and found the original building in Gordonton which is northeast of Burlington, N.C. (Photo: Wayne Jacobs)

 

And, as luck would have it, a man and his son saw us photographing the old building and told him that the man standing in the doorway of the original photo was Raney Banes, his Great Uncle!

 

Jacobs used a copy of the original photograph to place his tripod and camera in exactly the same spot that Dorothea Lange used to make the original photographs in 1939. This is his photograph after converted it to black and white.

 

“Since my photograph was taken from almost the exact same spot as the original photograph was taken, with a little Photoshop work, I can place the men back into the present-day building.”