Vintage Stereoview: Noble Clemons House

Stereoview image of Noble Clemons House, Essex, NY (Source: Geo Davis via Rosslyn Redux)

It’s time for another vintage Essex, NY, image! This is the first in a series of stereoviews that we have recently acquired. We shared this image on the Essex on Lake Champlain Facebook page last week and asked our viewers to identify what they could see in the photo and what they could tell us about what type of image it was.

What is a Stereoview?

So you may be wondering, just what is a stereoview? Well, one of our commenters summed that up concisely!

Greater Adirondack Ghost and Tour Company (Plattsburgh, NY): Beautiful image, I would say 1870s-80s? These double image cards were produced by photographers for use with a stereo viewer. It gave the appearance of 3-D when you looked through it…

Crest on the back of stereoview. E.M. Johnson, Photo Studio, Crown Point, NY

Remember those red binocular toys that kids used to view 3-D images? Well, this type of image was the predecessor. It was vintage 3-D!

The back of this stereoview is marked with the crest of E.M. Johnson, Photo Studio, Crown Point, NY. This was probably the mark of the photographer, though perhaps it was just the company that produced the stereoviews?

Noble Clemons House

Another commenter was able to identify the Essex home visible on the upper left, she could also recognize the old dirt roads despite the change into their current paved counterparts:

Lorraine Townsend Faherty remarked that the image was: “looking north up Elm Street toward church street, noble clemens house with cupola on left”

I also believe that the road cutting through Elm Street marks where School Street is today. When compared to today, this historic photo gives a hint to how much more open it used to be even in town.

The Noble Clemons House is of Italianate design and was finished circa 1850. That means that the photograph was taken after that date. We are unsure of the exact date, but the Greater Adirondack Ghost and Tour Company’s guess of the “1870s-80s” is certainly possible.

Historical Architecture in Essex, New York (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Merchant Row Mansions in Essex, NY (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Wilder House (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

About Katie Shepard

Passionate about reading and writing stories, Katie Shepard enjoys discovering more about her home while writing and editing for Essex on Lake Champlain. Katie graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh in 2011 where she studied English literature, philosophy, and Asian studies. Her first book Essex, New York Architecture: A Doodler's Field Guide was published in 2015. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, or at Linked.in. Or email her at katie [@] essexeditions [dot] com.