The Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut. Bequest of Ada Louise Taylor. Used with permission.

By looking at the 1906 photo of the Old State House, I was able to pinpoint where Dora was standing when Hine photographed her. The front of the building at 800 Main Street is on the east side of the street. After consulting several photography experts, I estimated that the photo was taken about 2:00 pm. That was in March, and this was August, but I was not about to wait until next March, so about 1:55, I placed the picture on the sidewalk across the street from the Old State House, and got out my camera. Hine would have been standing out in the street, much closer to the building, but that was not possible due to the heavy traffic. I managed to get several brief opportunities to shoot without traffic when the lights in both directions turned red, so that's why there are no cars in the picture.

I determined that I needed to use my 75-300 zoom lens in order to approximate the view that Hine saw in his camera. Because he used a 5 x 7 view camera, and I used a SLR 35mm camera, it was impossible to duplicate the photo perfectly. Thus, my photo shows less space to the right of the building than Hine's photo. While taking the pictures, two teenagers (boy and girl) stopped and asked what I was doing, and when I showed them, they were amazed that the building was 100 years old, and that it looked essentially the same. They wanted to know more about Dora. I suggested to the girl that I buy her a newspaper and then have her pose for a picture in the same position as Dora. I offered to give her a copy, and a copy of Dora's picture as well. She was intrigued by the idea, but politely declined.