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Rare. Untraced by Reps.
A small and rare bird's-eye view by the prolific American viewmaker J.J. Stoner showing the small town of Fairmont on the Nebraska plains.
Reps could not find any physical examples of the view recording (in entry 2111): "Locations: Unknown. Photo in Wilbur Gaffney (ed.), The Fillmore County Story, Geneva, Neb.: Geneva Community Grange No. 403, 1968, p. 134"
These smaller bird's-eye views of little towns on the Plains can be very rare and were no doubt produced in vanishingly small numbers to begin with. One wonders that the economics of production allowed for them at all.
Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler (1842–1922), according to Reps "the most prolific of all American city viewmakers," produced views of over 240 cities and towns (426 views in total). Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Fowler began his viewmaking career as an agent and assistant for Albert Ruger, with his first documented work dating back to 1868. His first published views under his own name appeared in 1870, featuring two Wisconsin towns. Prior to working for Ruger he served in the Civil War and was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Subsequently, he worked as a tintype photographer.
Fowler collaborated with artists like O.H. and H. H. Bailey, and they formed Fowler & Bailey in the early 1870s. He was renowned for his detailed and accurate panoramic maps, which vividly depicted the rapid growth and urban development of late 19th and early 20th-century America. Fowler continued to create city views well into his seventies, with his final work published in 1922, shortly before his death.
![Map of the Missouri Pacific and St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway and Connections [Missouri Pacific Railway. St. Louis & All Points East Chair Cars Free Fast Mail Route]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/91606.jpg)
