About the Photographer 

Henry S. Davis (1876-1971) was the son of Charles H. and Nellie (Simpson) Davis, raised on the ancestral “Hungry Hill Farm” at 316 Little Meadow Road. 

He attended the Nut Plains South District School and apparently found employment with local merchants in lieu of completing high school. In 1900, Henry purchased the newsstand of Captain Charles Griswold in the Kimberly Building (gone) on the site of what is now 63 Whitfield Street. From this location, he established Davis’ News Depot. 

The Shore Line Times edition of October 22, 1903 refers to Henry Davis as “Guilford’s general utility man in the publicity and fine art line,” since he served as both stationer and photographer in addition to a news dealer. In 1907, Henry S. Davis took Edmund F. Dudley into partnership, which changed the firm name to Davis and Dudley, but for less than two years. In 1908, Henry resigned and opened a store of photography in a little building that once stood on the site of Town Hall parking lot. Subsequently, Henry opened a picture framing and paint store—back to the west side of the Green. 

When Deborah and Charles Peluse purchased Henry & Sara Davis’ house at 320 Boston Street (1970), they discovered the photo darkroom in a closet under the attic stairs.