Since the development of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, the camera has been used as a tool of both discovery and preservation. Photographs bring alive our picture of the past and can open a floodgate of memories and nostalgia or inspire curiosity and a sense of history. Both joined and separated by the Androscoggin River, Brunswick and Topsham were carved from the same land grant in 1715. Despite their proximity, the towns developed separate identities: Brunswick became a manufacturing, commercial, and educational center, while Topsham combined its farms with factories. This fascinating pictorial history illuminates the daily lives of the residents of the two towns, and reveals how life has changed over the past 120 years.