Miss Monira McIntosh lived in Rockland, the beautiful coastal city in southern Maine. 

In 1910, the railroads were bringing tourists to the area, diversifying the economy built on lime kilns and ship-building.

Like millions of other Americans, Monira belonged to a postcard club.

In March of 1910, she received a postcard from Miss Mabel Harker of Elk Point, South Dakota.

Elk Point, a city in the extreme southeast corner of South Dakota, had been established as a trading post by the Hudson Bay Company in 1755.

The small city was named for the abundance of elk that once lived in the area.

The face of the postcard is a photograph of a man fishing in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

On the reverse, Mabel writes that she is unable ‘to get any pretty views of the State” as she is “not near any larger city”.

Mabel hopes that this sporting scene “may prove interesting” to Monira, and she invites her to “call again” – which is to say, exchange another postcard.

Monira McIntosh was born in Rockland, Maine in 1862; she would have been 48 years old when she received this postcard.

The McIntosh family had lived in Rockland for some time; her father, John Henry McIntosh, and her mother, Elsie M. Tolman, were born in Rockland.

Alas, Monira died in 1919 -only nine years after exchanging postcards with Mabel.

She is buried in Rockland, where she seems to have spent her entire life.