Each Monday we share an Essex photo or artifact on the Essex on Lake Champlain Facebook page and invite our viewers to play some Vintage Essex Trivia. Do you recognize the building in this photo? It’s labeled as “James S. Harlan Community Hall, Essex, NY.” But maybe you’d recognize the name Noble Warehouse or the Masonic Lodge (its current title) instead? That’s what a couple of our commentators identified it as:
Dianne Lansing: Is it the Masonic Lodge? If so, wasn’t it once used as a shirt factory?
Debbie Morrell Alterie: That’s what I would say, Masonic Lodge.
The building was donated to the Masons turning it into a Masonic Lodge, but before that the building was originally a warehouse used as part of the Noble family’s shipping business. Dianne is right that it was also later used as a shirt factory including several other uses throughout the years.
It was eventually turned into a concert hall by Maud Noble and named after her husband James S. Harlan, hence the name James S. Harlan Community Hall on the postcard. The stage inside is still used today by the Essex Theatre Company during their summer productions. Learn more details here.
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.
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