In 1947 Paul Darling cashed in some war bonds and bought his first good camera. 

It was a Mercury 2, said Mr. Darling, and it was not cheap. It cost $275, but was reliable and helped the longtime resident begin to build an impressive collection of photographs, including countless images of his hometown.

Some of Mr. Darling's photographs of Barrington are being featured in a special Barrington Preservation Society exhibit, titled "The Way We Were: Paul Darling's Barrington photographs 1949-2019." The exhibit will open today, Wednesday, Feb. 26 in the Barrington Preservation Society Museum on the ground level of the Peck Community Center building, and continue through June.

"I treasure them," Mr. Darling said of the images featured in the exhibit.

Mr. Darling said the exhibit includes many of his aerial photographs of Barrington. In 1959, while Mr. Darling was working at WPRO, two co-workers offered to take him up for a flight around Rhode Island. 

"Any excuse to go flying," said Mr. Darling. 

A few minutes into the flight, Mr. Darling told his co-workers he wanted to fly over his town. They obliged, and Mr. Darling went to work snapping photographs — they flew over the old lace works building and other mills in Bay Spring, past West Barrington High School, St. Andrew's.

"He dipped the wing," Mr. Darling said, explaining how he was able to take the aerials. 

Mr. Darling said he made a prior exhibit for the Barrington Preservation Society in the 1990s. He said he made 14-inch prints and carefully dry-mounted each one. He said he is particularly proud of the collection. 

In fact, Mr. Darling holds a special fondness for almost every one of his photographs. He has created six books filled with his photographs, ranging from "Narragansett Bay, the World's Finest Estuary" to his latest, "Chipmunk Capers." He also captured thousands of images while working as a news photographer — he worked for television stations and newspapers and as a freelancer. 

"I would go where they sent me," Mr. Darling said.

He also holds a special distinction: He served as the official photographer of the America's Cup races off Newport, from 1958 to 1983, when the U.S. yacht Liberty lost the cup to Australia II.

Of one particular image of Australia II's skipper and crew celebrating, Mr. Darling said, "I was proud of that."

Capturing town's history

Mr. Darling's photographs of Barrington tell detailed stories, but his memories are even more vivid.

He was just eight years old, living near County Road, when he lived through the Hurricane of 1938. He remembers his father had left work at Industrial National Bank and driven back to Barrington, parking his car on Prince's Hill and walking down County Road to his home. 

"My mother opened the window for him," Mr. Darling said, explaining that she was afraid the wind might rip the door from its hinges. "I remember seeing him step inside the window."

The storm surge was pressing farther and farther onto dry land and soon filled his home's basement. His brother had tried to rescue the family's chickens from the storm, moving them from coop outside into the basement, but the birds all died, drowning in the flooded cellar.

There is a high water mark at the Darling's home for the 1938 hurricane and 1954 hurricane. 

But most of Mr. Darling's memories of Barrington's past are pleasant — sprawling meadows and thick woods and fishing holes.

"It (Barrington) was country when I was a boy," he said. "The air was sweet."

The Darling family's dogs — they had three — ran free. Young Paul Darling would walk across the road from his house and explore the woods at Tiffany's Pond. ("It's not Prince's Pond," he said.) He and his friend would jump off the dock that belonged to the rod and reel club that held a lease for the pond. 

"We could swim, but we could not fish off that dock," he said. 

"I loved being able to stretch my legs — run over to the field, inspect the old barn. We'd go to Romano's gravel bank. We'd hunt for frogs," he said.

He can recall how the town paid to relocate a family that lived where the high school is currently located. The town actually built that family a new house farther down the road. 

Eventually, Mr. Darling began capturing in photographs much of the town he now remembers. He can recall the Blizzard of 1978, and spent hours trudging through the snow following the storm to capture images of a town blanketed in white. He snapped pictures of a resident on Linden Road leaning against his snow shovel, still hours away from clearing his driveway.

"It was a sour expression," Mr. Darling said, recalling the man pictured. Mr. Darling shared his photos with the Barrington Times, which included them in the post-storm coverage. 

He has taken countless photographs all across Barrington, ranging from the Barrington Education Foundation's rubber ducky race to, more recently, the families of chipmunks that live in his yard.

Still today, at 90, Mr. Darling continues to do what he loves — snapping photographs that he can share with others.

"I'm fortunate," he said. "I still drive. I still have my eyesight. I just don't go out for eight hours a day."

The Barrington Preservation Society museum is open Wednesdays and Saturdays, from 1 to 4 p.m., and the exhibition will continue through June.