Essex Booms in Late 1700s and Early 1800s

Essex boomed at the turn of the 19th century.

The American Revolution erased most of the early settlement in William Gilliland‘s “baronial estate” along the Adirondack coast of Lake Champlain, but the region subsequently recovered and experienced rapid economic development and population growth.

Essex Booms

Essex’s maritime port fueled its commercial boom years.

1786 First tavern built in Essex
1790 First Essex-Vermont ferry service
Late 1700s Essex commerce booming
Early 1800s Two Essex shipyards thriving

Would the Essex boom-bust cycle repeat during the War of 1812?

Additional inns and taverns, robust shipbuilding and manufacturing facilities, and economies of extraction (logging, stone quarrying, iron mining, etc.) accounted for rapid growth and a growing population.

Times were good!

But with the War of 1812 on the horizon, would the Essex boom once again come to a grinding halt?

Old Brick Schoolhouse (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
The Dower House (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

About Geo Davis

Geo Davis (aka virtualDavis) is a writer, storyteller and unabashed flâneur. He taught and coached at Santa Fe Preparatory School and The American School of Paris, co-founded Maison Margaux: "Paris à la parisienne" in Faubourg Saint-Germain, and owns Adobe Oasis in Santa Fe, NM with his bride.

Geo chronicles adventures (and misadventures) of rehabilitating an historic Essex home at Rosslyn Redux: Reawakening a home, a dream and ourselves; blogs about doodling and other esoterica at virtualDavis.com; posts sometimes unnerving, occasionally euphoric, and always pollyanna "midlife mashups" at 40x41.com; waxes nautical at Sailing Errant; and delves into matters of parenting, babylandia, and childfreedom at Why No Kids? He meanders on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Flickr.