Vintage Stereoview: Essex Community Church

Essex Community Church (stereoview) (Source: Geo Davis via Rosslyn Redux)

We invited you to play Vintage Essex Trivia when we posted this old photograph on the Essex on Lake Champlain Facebook page last week, and asked the community to tell us what they knew about the scene.

This vintage photo captures a scene at the corner of what is today Main Street and Station Street in Essex, NY. The building featured prominently in this stereoview is the Essex Community Church.Visible in the background are two more historic buildings that remain standing today. They are Greystone Cottage, now the library, and the residential Greystone.

Two girls (and possibly a man on the sidewalk–or just a bush or shadow?) are standing near a fence by the church that no longer exists today. That cracked sidewalk has also been replaced and the dirt streets are now paved. The stone marker in the foreground is also no longer there.

Here are some of the comments we received about this historic photo.

Dianne Lansing: I wonder [whose] tombstone is in the foreground

Jo Jo Slithers: I recognize the Essex Community Church, of course, i believe the next house is where May Mathers lived, followed by the Belden Noble Library (Greystone cottage) then the Greystone House… I don’t know the year but I’d venture a guess as mid/late 1800’s

Robert Hammerslag: Perhaps Mae Mather’s house was not yet built when this photo was taken, or maybe it’s hidden behind the church. The building between the church and the library (now a parking lot) is the Beehive.

What is a Stereoview?

If this is the first of our shared stereoview images that you are viewing, then you may be wondering– just what is a stereoview? Historically, photographers produced these double image cards to be used with a stereo viewer. The device gave the appearance of 3-D when you looked through it, hence the mirroring images which would line up with each eye to create the illusion.

We hope you’re enjoying these vintage images! Keep your eyes on the Essex on Lake Champlain blog for more.

Vintage Photo: The Greystone Library (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Vintage Stereoview: Main Street, Essex, NY (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Vintage Stereoview: View from Essex Quarry (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Vintage Photo: Old Brick Store, Main Street, Essex, NY (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Vintage Postcard: Rosslyn/Essex Waterfront (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Steamboat Sighting (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

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Posts published under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices, and/or they may be first-time submissions from someone/some organization without a byline of their own; if latter, then the author will be acknowledged in the post. To submit your news for publication on the Essex blog please use the Submit a Story form or contact the editors via email (blue button above).