Vintage Postcard: Essex Lakefront Scene

Every Monday we share an image on the Essex on Lake Champlain Facebook page and invite our viewers to play some Vintage Essex Trivia.

Have you ever seen this old postcard? What do you recognize? What has changed in Essex since then if you looked at this same view? When do you think this was created?

Here’s what the community already had to say:

Anthony Raneri: Love it!

Chris Oliver: That’s Begg’s Point, right? The nail factory has been replaced by a terrific little spot to take a wedding photo 🙂

Dianne Lansing: That’s the Horseshoe nail factory on the right…one of several in the photo that are no longer there. The White House to the left remains and belongs to the Schenin family. Cool boat!

They’ve guessed the location right! This Essex lakefront view does have the old Horse Nail Factory to the right, which burned in 1918 and the location is Beggs Park today. Since that building is present in that image that dates the postcard to that year or prior. Due to the clothing of the couple in the rowboat I would have guessed at least early 1900s or late 1800s in any case.

There is also a date written on the back of the postcard and a postage mark. The postage mark is a little hard to make out but I believe it matches the date written out, which reads: “9/22/09.” So that means this was mailed on September 22, 1909.

The back of the postcard also tells us that the publisher is “W.H. Cruikshank” in Essex, NY. The name has appeared as the publisher on several of the old postcards that we’ve shared on the blog.

Vintage Postcard: Essex Lakefront Scene - back — Vintage Postcard: Essex Lakefront Scene – back (Source: Geo Davis via Rosslyn Redux)

Share Your Essex Artifacts

If you want to share your old photos of Essex (or brochures; postcards; menus; tickets; any artifact) on the blog please email us at editor [AT] essexonlakechamplain [DOT] com.

Vintage Postcard: Serene Boat Scene (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
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Vintage Photo: St. John’s Church & Rectory (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Vintage Postcard: Essex Main Street Looking North (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 Facebook or at Linked.in. Or email her at katie [@] essexeditions [dot] com.