From 1939-1941, 80th Street was transformed by the WPA from a 25-foot-wide dead-end dirt road into a 50-foot-wide paved “highway” per the terminology of the time. Several houses on the west side of the street were demolished to accommodate the widening. This photo is striking because of the presence of a telephone pole, sans wires, in the middle of the road waiting to be removed. But the old familiar church building and St. John Cemetery opposite it are recognizable, as well as a distinctive home at the corner of Juniper Valley Road. You can see clear to Furmanville Ave.

Today, the most noticeable differences in the scene are the presence of a garage that was constructed on the St. John side, the addition of traffic signals and street markings at the intersection, modern cars and some very large trees on both sides of the street. And, of course, the pole is gone. Photo by Giovanni Dolce.