Miss Belle Alcorn lived in Thompsonville, a census-designated place within the town of Enfield in Hartford County of north-central Connecticut.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thompsonville,_Connecticut
Thompsonville grew up around a carpet mill on Freshwater Brook and was a center of carpet manufacturing into the mid-20th century.
In August of 1911, Belle received a postcard from Mrs. H.
Mrs. H. mailed the postcard from Old Orchard, a resort area on Saco Bay near Portland in southeast Maine.
Old Orchard now seems to be absorbed within Old Orchard Beach.
Here is a remarkable history with sketches from 1879:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Orchard_Beach,_Maine
Since the mid-19th century, boarding houses (later, hotels) accommodated summer visitors from all over New England.
The remarkable beach at Old Orchard extends 7 miles – touching more than one town on Saco Bay.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Orchard_Beach,_Maine
In 1881, the President of Bates College – Oren B. Cheney – organized the development of the Free-Will Baptist campground near Old Orchard.
The campground community was created as the village of Ocean Park within the town of Old Orchard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Park,_Maine
The aim of Ocean Park was “to establish a place of summer resort for holding religious, educational and other meetings…”
Like the many visitors to Camp Meetings on the New Jersey Shore, visitors to the Old Orchard Camp Meeting might also be tempted to enjoy the spectacular beaches and very secular pursuits.
A pier and amusement park (Palace Playland) was built at Old Orchard Beach from 1898-1902.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_Playland
The face of the postcard is a photograph of well-dressed attendees at the entrance to the Old Orchard Camp Meeting.
For those who picture “camp meeting” as a spontaneous outpouring of raw religious emotion in a frontier setting – one will have to adjust your imagination to the evolution of the Camp Meeting in the early 20th century.
This postcard photograph was published by the Leighton & Valentine Company of New York City.
Belle preserved the postcard in very good condition throughout her life.
One hopes that she and Mrs. H. continued with their postcard correspondence for many years.
