Vintage Postcard: Northern Essex Waterfront View

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

Take a look at this Essex scene and tell us what you see! What has changed? What’s still there? When do you think this old postcard dates to?

Here’s what the community already had to say:

Dianne Lansing: Essex Road is now paved and the horse shoe nail factory is no longer.

Christine Herrmann: And there is no ferry slip!

They certainly noticed the big changes — including the presence of the Horse Nail Factory, which is the red building with the smokestack to the left. It was destroyed in a fire in 1918. Do you notice any other changes in this scene compared with how it appears today?

Take a look at the back side of the postcard below:

Vintage Postcard: Northern Essex Waterfront View (back) (Source: George Davis via Rosslyn Redux)

The message is very faded and the postage stamp is a bit as well, but I can make it out. The date reads: August 24, 1903. Unless I’m mistaken about that last number in the year? 1905? 1909? What do you think?

The line on the left tells us that the publisher is W.H. Cruikshank of Essex, NY, who was responsible for publishing several vintage postcards we’ve shared in the past.

Do you have any thoughts to share about this old postcard? Please leave a comment below!

Share Your Essex Artifacts

If you want to share your old photos of Essex (also brochures, postcards, menus, tickets, artifacts, etc.) on the blog please email us at editor [AT] essexonlakechamplain [DOT] 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.