Rosslyn Boathouse, circa 2019 (watercolor painting by Ric Feeney)
Watercolor artist Ric Feeney shared this beautiful painting on Facebook recently, and of course it caught my eye as it featured Rosslyn’s whimsical boathouse/dock house.
Feeney captioned the post: “Finished this 17 x 26 watercolor of early spring with the Champlain Ferry approaching the Essex dock.”
There’s something almost cinematographic about the Essex-Charlotte ferry approaching the Essex ferry dock from the north-northeast. Our boathouse, centered in the foreground, appears jollier (color saturated and slightly vignetted with a hint of sunlight) than the ferry boat, the Old Dock Restaurant (red roof near right hand side of the image) and Begg’s Point, both visible behind the ferry dock.
Over the years we’ve collected many artists’ interpretations of the boathouse, each a fresh perspective, a new chapter in the timeless tale we call Rosslyn Redux. Much as I have attempted to narrate the property’s story, an inspiring retinue of painters, photographers, and artists drawn to other media (i.e. Mary Wade’s wood and stone creations) have curated and showcased their own experiences with Rosslyn, especially Rosslyn’s boathouse.
You can enjoy more of Ric Feeney’s watercolors at ricfeeney.com.
Rosslyn Dock House & Crystal Spring Farm, aka Hayward House (Photo via Todd Goff)
A couple of weeks ago I received an email from friend and Essex neighbor, Todd Goff with a download link to that spectacular photograph above portraying an early 1900s panorama of the Essex waterfront. Actually, the image above has been shrunk down from a 9″ wide original and web optimized to accelerate load time (and avoid breaking the internet!) The photo requires squinting to blaze through the blur, but I’ll include a couple of blown up details below to help you zoom in. I’m working with Photoshop to optimize a higher definition version of this unique northward glance from Begg’s Point across was once known as Blood’s Bay. In addition to the rare capture of Rosslyn’s dock house / boathouse and Crystal Spring Farm (aka Hayward House) — BOTH visible with virtually everything else obscured by trees — the close up offers a remarkably clear view of the dock house gangway and outer pier access.
Blood’s Bay Waterfront
Todd consistently unearths remarkable vintage and historic images of Essex. Any time a message arrives from him my heart skips a beat in anticipation of what new find he might be passing along. This unique Essex waterfront view that he sent to me and to Willie Wilcox, owner-restorer of Crystal Spring Farm, raised the bar considerably!
Here’s the gist from Todd’s January 23 and 28 messages.
I came across this 3×9” print today. Shows what was on the Rosslyn Redux image from a different angle and the Hayward House. It is actually a 400mb file with great details… It was in a box of things from Mom related to Essex. No details other than it appears like silver and black on the print vs black and white. Must be some kind of printing technique. I noticed the “arch bridge” railing frame to your dock was similar to one image you posted recently. I had not seen that detail before. Both show some monolithic black block near sandy point or Cross’. I have no idea what that was. It was neat to see the view of Willy’s/Hayward’s too. — Todd Goff
Thank. You. Todd. This is on your best finds yet!
Rosslyn Dock House
Here’s the image of the dock house with an “arch bridge” railing frame that Todd’s referring to. (Note that this building has been referred to as both a dock house and a boathouse, but the current images appear to emphasize its construction atop a pier projecting out into the lake, so for the sake of clarity I will use the term “dock house” exclusively in this post.)
Dock House with Coal Bin on Pier (Antique Postcard)
The section between the two piers (the western pier with dock house and the eastern pier with coal bin) are conjoined by what does indeed resemble a bridge or suspended gangway. Although it’s worth noting that the truss construction actually differs slightly in the two historic photographs. In the sepia image I published on January 19, 2023 in my “Historic Rehabilitation” post the not insignificant span between the two piers is supported with symmetrical bracing akin to inverted truss-like brackets or corbels. In Todd’s photograph the span appears to be supported with a more conventional “bowstring” truss, supplemented with a pair of vertical pilings underneath the bridge / gangway.
The closeup below better illustrates what I’m describing.
Rosslyn Dock House (Photo via Todd Goff)
In Todd’s photo it also appear that the gangway from shore to the dock house is suspended rather than the solid structure we inherited. Each new twist and turn makes me wonder, makes me dig deeper into our mushrooming collection of historic images. Slowly building a “time machine”… 😉
And ruminating on the pros and cons of how best to support the span in the outer gangway (especially given the challenges posed by winter ice and spring ice flows when the water lever is far higher), I found myself looking back at Old Stump bridge to see what sort of structural accommodations were used in that construction. And, as I drift from the suspended bridge in front of the dock house, I also note that Rosslyn’s bathhouse is very much visible just north of the dock house. Do you remember that?
Crystal Spring Farm
I share Todd’s intrigue with the open southerly view from Hayward House (aka Crystal Spring Farm) since that view is dramatically different today. In addition to the built environment changing, reforestation throughout this area of Essex has dramatically altered many of the historic images from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Here is a close up detail of Crystal Spring Farm.
Crystal Spring Farm, aka Hayward House (Photo via Todd Goff)
It’s notable what a handsome facade the property’s southern elevation affords, now concealed from the public viewshed. The perfectly cropped view of St. Joseph’s Church (see feature on Essex community blog) also stands in stark contrast to our contemporary waterfront, as does the notable block at right in this blowup. It appears to be a large bunker of some sort. I share Todd’s curiosity. Perhaps sharing this image will enable us to crowdsource this mystery?
Welcome to my gallery of Essex Horse Nail Company artifacts. I’m intrigued by artifacts that offer a window into bygone Essex heritage and buildings such at the Essex Horse Nail Company which once stood proud and productive on the site of present day Beggs Park.
While resuscitating Rosslyn, we have discovered lots of local artifacts, relics, memorabilia and esoterica. And — a bit like archeologists poking through ancient midden heaps — we have deciphered and guessed the relevance and context of rotting lineament bottles, wallpaper shards, yellowing postcards, etc. Our burgeoning collection of Rosslyn artifacts, Essex artifacts, Lake Champlain artifacts, and Adirondack artifacts comprises a veritable “digital museum” of curated collectibles all directly or indirectly related to the historic William Daniel Ross home in Essex, New York. (Rosslyn Redux)
Many of the Essex Horse Nail Company artifacts in this gallery have been showcased at Essex on Lake Champlain, the community blog for Essex, New York. I’m perennially on the lookout for local artifacts that help fill a visual and informational void, so if you are aware of additional Essex Horse Nail Company artifacts that I’m missing, please let me know. Thanks.
Essex Horse Nail Company Gallery
Essex Horse Nail Company in Essex, New York
The Essex Horse Nail Company was located on Beggs Point… It manufactured nails for horse shoes… for almost two decades until the factory was destroyed in a fire in 1918.
“Later 19th century industry on Beggs Point included Essex’s only factory building, first occupied by the Essex Manufacturing Company to 1877, then by Lyon and Palmer blind and sash manufactory until 1879, followed by the Essex Horse Nail Company Limited from 1880 to 1918, which in 1885 employed 60 or 70 hands.” (Essex on Lake Champlain by David C. Hislop, pg. 55)
As the factory was only in operation from 1880 to 1918 that dates that photo to some point in or between those years. After the fire the area was barren, and in the 1920s the area was landscaped into Beggs Park which remains public green space today. (Source: Vintage Photo: Essex Horse Nail Factory | Essex on Lake Champlain)
Essex Horse Nail Factory in Essex, New York
Essex Horse Nail Factory… burned in a fire that destroyed the factory in 1918 (which date the photo to that year or prior). After it was gone the area was turned into Beggs Park which remains today. Learn more about its history here. (Source: Vintage Photo: Horse Nail Factory | Essex on Lake Champlain)
Essex Horse Nail Company Factory in Essex, New York
Robert Hammerslag: ECHO and/or the ECHS did an oral history project back in the 70s. It was headed up by Betsy Tisdale. One of the tapes was a recollection of the fire. I am sure the tapes must be available. I can see the Fire Dept, Ross Store, Community Church and maybe the Noble Clemons House at the upper left.
Todd Goff: Bob, a quick search shows c. 1973 tapes of, “Rev. Stephen F. Bayne of Essex, N.Y. talks about the horseshoe nail factory fire in Essex in 1918.” are in Potsdam Library and Blue Mtn Lake. I will look up at HSX. for them too. Thanks for the heads up. It would be good to digitize them.
Robert Hammerslag: Yes, unless it has already been done, it would be good to digitize those old cassette tapes while it’s still possible. They could be forty years old!
Essex Horse Nail Company Factory in Essex, New York
Another postcard was submitting to us by Todd Goff after he saw us share the above postcard. Thank you very much for adding to our digital collection!His postcard reads, “Steamboat landing of the Lake Champlain Transportation Co., at Essex on Lake Champlain, N.Y.” This postcard shows us an alternate view of the same scene. The photo is looking north up the lake and we can see the side of the Horse Nail Factory in the center of the image along with other facets of this section of the Essex waterfront at this time. (Source: Vintage Postcard: View from Steamer of Essex, NY | Essex on Lake Champlain)
Essex Horse Nail Company Factory in Essex, New York, circa 1909.
According to the back of the postcard the photo was originally published by “J.S. Wooley, Ballston Spa, NY.” In the center of the photo we can see the old horse nail factory that burned down in 1918. Take a look at other postcards featuring this factory for a better look and to learn more. This building being present here tells us the photo was taken before 1918. As “25.8.09” is written on the face of this postcard we can assume that this may have been the date (August 25, 1909) the postcard was created or possibly the date it was sent… (Source: Vintage Postcard: Essex from Lake Champlain (1909) | Essex on Lake Champlain)
Essex Horse Nail Company/Factory located where Beggs Park is today.
Dianne Lansing: That’s the Horseshoe nail factory on the right…one of several in the photo that are no longer there…
Katie Shepard: 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… The postage mark is a little hard to make out but I believe it matches the date written out, which reads: “9/22/09.” […] 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. (Source: Vintage Postcard: Essex Lakefront Scene | Essex on Lake Champlain)
The church steeple in the center is the Essex Baptist Church and to the far right the tall object (tower? pipe?) is part of the Essex Horse Nail Company‘s factory. Both are now absent from the town due to fire which destroyed the church in 1943 and the factory in 1918, which dates the photo pre-1918. (Source: Vintage Photo: Essex Waterfront with Nail Factory | Essex on Lake Champlain)
Essex Horse Nail Co. Factory in Essex, NY
This week we’re happy to share this black and white photo dated to about c. 1900-1910… I believe I see the part of the old Horse Nail Factory on the far right of the photo. Do you agree? (Source: Vintage Photo: Essex Waterfront | Essex on Lake Champlain)
Rosslyn bathhouse, boathouse, and the steam yacht, Kestrel, are center foreground, the Old Dock is center background with Essex Horse Nail Co. Factory at far left. (Source: Shirley LaForest via Essex on Lake Champlain)
Although Rosslyn’s bathhouse, boathouse (and the Kaiser family’s steam yacht, Kestrel) occupy the center foreground, the Essex Horse Nail Co. Factory’s smoke stack is just visible at the far left of the Old Dock (center background).
Horse Nails and Crate from Essex Horse Nail Company / Factory (Source: Dianne Lansing via Essex on Lake Champlain)
This photograph popped up in my Facebook feed about a week ago, posted by my neighbor Dianne Lansing with the following description.
“A special gift from a very dear friend. It’s an original box of horseshoe nails made at the Essex Horseshoe Nail Factory which was located at what is now Beggs Park.” ~ Source: Diane Lansing, Facebook, March 14 at 9:16pm
Situated on a commanding promontory overlooking Lake Champlain, the Essex Horse Nail Company occupied the site of several earlier industries. The Essex Horseshoe Nail Factory burned long ago, so it’s veiled in a bit of mystery. (Source: Essex Horse Nails | Essex on Lake Champlain)
Envelope from Essex Horse Nail Co., Limited in Essex, New York, circa 1898.
I spied this intriguing artifact in an eBay auction. It’s a canceled envelope for a letter, invoice, something… sent from the Essex Horse Nail Co., Limited in Essex, New York on August 16, 1898 (year cited in eBay auction, though I’m unable to verify) to Mr. D. J. Payne in Wadhams Mills, New York. (Source: Essex Horse Nail Company and Wadhams Mills » Rosslyn Redux)
My “doodlebomb” of the Essex Horse Nail Company including the enterprise’s logo (top center).
While researching and illustrating the Essex, New York Architecture: A Doodler’s Field Guide I “doodlebombed”several vintage images of Essex landmarks including the Essex Horse Nail Co. Not much of an artifact? Sorry!
In Essex we live connected with our history. There are daily reminders — architectural, cultural, anecdotal, etc. — of the yesterdays that endure or linger on today. It’s not so much that time has stood still (although there are plenty who will suggest as much), but rather Essex allows a concurrence of times. Past and present coexist in some respect, as layers or textures of our day-to-day.
And yet there are occasional reminders of our long gone past. The industrial Essex waterfront documented fuzzily in the postcard above, for example, stands in stark contrast to the same waterfront today. The industry and innovation alive and well in Essex today is very different from 100 or 200 years ago.
I’m especially smitten with Essex waterfront images, fueled no doubt by a lifelong yen for things nautical.
I appreciate lakeside time capsules that pop up unexpectedly like this historic postcard that I tried unsuccessfully to purchase on eBay. It turns out that another collector with deeper pockets (and more persistent auction monitoring!) was able to win this nostalgic view of Essex’s northern waterfront, but I’ve made an effort to render the low definition photograph slightly more legible for you so that you can decipher the stories suggested by yesteryear’s industrial Essex waterfront.
In my estimation the photographer appears to have been looking south across Blood’s Bay toward the cape or peninsula now known as Begg’s Park. This Essex “skyline” adorns a circa 1924 postcard, but the photograph was likely made years or even decades earlier.
Rosslyn boathouse at sunrise (Digital doodle: virtualDavis)
“Coffee? You don’t even drink coffee,” Susan said.
“I know. I know it doesn’t make any sense. But I’m walking through Rosslyn early in the morning with a steaming cup of coffee…”
I hadn’t drunk coffee since college, and I’d obviously never wandered around Rosslyn at the crack of dawn either. But I kept having this vision.
“It’s just barely sunrise. You’re still sleeping. I’m up, drifting from room-to-room, slowly, haltingly, studying the way the sunlight illuminates each room. And those green walls in the parlor? They vibrate in the morning light, like new maple leaves in the springtime.”
I described the shaft of sunlight stretching across the workshop floor. I described the calm, the quiet except for an occasional creaky floorboard. I described Tasha, our Labrador Retriever, padding along with me, anxious for breakfast.
“Tasha sighs and lies down each time I stop. And I stop a lot… to watch the morning unfolding, to watch the sunlight shimmering on the rippled lake, to watch the boathouse clapboards glowing yellow orange for a few minutes as the sun rises above the Green Mountains.”
“I was imagining the boathouse too,” Susan said. “Not like today, but like it was ours, like we lived at Rosslyn. I was thinking, the boathouse’s just begging for a hammock. Don’t you think? A big, two-person hammock in the open-air part, under the roof. Can you imagine lying in a hammock in the evening, listening to the waves?” Susan paused, lost in the idea. “And think of the dinner parties,” she continued. “A table set for four. White linens and candles and sheer curtains billowing in the breeze…”
My mind’s been wandering to watercolor painting during recent bicycle rides. Wondering about watercoloring as a way of seeing and becoming acquainted and interpreting. Watercolor as a way of knowing. A way of storytelling.
I’m hoping to make time this fall for a fresh foray into watercolor painting. It’s been a while. A long while!
Just about everything I cast eyes upon is begging to be added to the list of images to paint. The orchard’s colorful fruit and lush summer foliage, for example. The Amish man, horse, and buggy trundling past Rosslyn early this morning, silhouetted against a magnificent sunrise…
And Señorita Serendipity seems to approve of my plans. While brainstorming a punchlist of September/October watercolors, recent August skies appear to have been watercolored by the universe. Another portentous twist of fate: my enfatuation with bygone barns was concurrently satisfied during two recent bike rides, orchestrating the watercolor sky plus barn snapshots I was able to share earlier today with a “Backcountry Barns Haiku”.
Time torn, weatherworn
byways by backcountry barns.
Watercolor skies.
After yesterday’s runaway rumination on wavy window glass (with a nod at watercolors), this quick post was practically born of necessity.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CS9iHSCrE6a/
I’m sure I’ve touched on this elsewhere over the years, but it’s worth acknowledging that barn architecture, especially minimalist barns, patinated with weather and time, speaks to something practically primordial in me. My earliest hope when looking for a North Country properties was to convert an old barn into a home. I looked at lots of backcountry barns, but I never made a match. Some day I still hope to explore the barn vernacular, perhaps in a modern and somewhat interpretive way.
Until then I’m going to keep massaging this watercolor metaphor a little longer.
Maybe once I dip my brush into paint this fall more meaningful observations will materialize. Perhaps I’ll be able to better articulate why watercoloring (and wavy glass, for that matter) are helping me decipher and describe my process, my pleasure, and my goals.
For now, and for this post, I’ve returned to the Waterlogue app by Tinrocket to create this (and other recent) digital watercolors. I’ve always used the iOS version beacuase it’s a well tuned flaneur’s tool, always at hand, always handy for a quick “field sketch”. After snapping a photograph I usually import it into the Snapseed app by Google for some pre-watercolor tuneups to creatively manipulate the results in a way that will render a digital watercolor that suits my vision. Then into Waterlogue for some empirical playtime… And voila!
Photograph of Essex artist Bill Amadon (and his dog) walking/photographing on frozen Lake Champlain.
I spied Bill Amadon,(billamadon.com) an Essex artist and good friend, walking around on the frozen lake in front of our boathouse a few days ago. The lighting and distance made identification a little dodgy but the dog was hint #1 and a conversation with Bill the day prior (at the Essex Post Office where so many mid-winter encounters occur) was hint #2.
Bill mentioned that he was working on a series of three commissioned paintings, and that he was hoping to make it out onto Lake Champlain early the following morning to capture the waterfront in early morning light. He needed the photos to research the third and final painting in the series.
My suspicions were confirmed when a short while later Bill Amadon posted the following images to his Facebook page. He generously permitted me to showcase the photographs here. Enjoy!
Beggs Point in Essex by Bill Amadon, March 13, 2015
Essex by Bill Amadon, March 13, 2015
Old Dock in Essex (Source: Bill Amadon, March 13, 2015)
Essex ferry dock by Bill Amadon, March 13, 2015
Rosslyn boathouse by Bill Amadon, March 13, 2015
Rosslyn boathouse by Bill Amadon, March 13, 2015
Frozen Lake Champlain by Bill Amadon, March 13, 2015
Tie Dyed Crater Clubbers, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
[I started this post on the 4th of July, but uploading and captioning the photos delayed the post. Sorry!]
There’s no finer time to live in a small town in America than on the 4th of July. Essex, New York offers the quintessential Independence Day parade experience, straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting!
Although the last month and a half has brought rain, rain, rain — and ever rising lake Champlain water levels — today appears to be a welcome ellipsis. The humidity is off the charts, and the temperature was already above 80 when we awoke this morning, but at least for a short while the rain has abated. The lawns are swampy and unmowed throughout town, but the Essex running races this morning were well attended, main street is busy, there’s already a line at the ice cream shop, Penelope the Clown is entertaining pedestrians at the stoplight, and the smell of strawberry shortcake is wafting across the North Bay.
Independence Day Parade in Essex
Spreading the Fun, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Farm wagons and tractors costumed as patriotic floats idle north of town where officials orchestrate the parade’s start. Antique cars and farm implements, an impressive menagerie of emergency vehicles, a pair of miniature sulkies pulled by miniature donkeys, and a fleet of Shriner micro-jalopies join the excitement. Sirens wail. A pair of costumed Native American “braves” whoop and startle children. Horses carry proud equestrians. Veterans march and bear standards. A band plays. Politicos toss candy and promises. Bystanders snap photographs and point or scramble for Tootsie Rolls and caramels.
Every year it surprises me how long the Independence Day parade takes to pass. I suspect there are nearly as many participants as bystanders. Eventually the last vehicles and waving celebrants chug past Rosslyn and continue toward the center of town where judges will celebrate the best parade entry and the community clap and laugh and then make its way to Beggs Park for a barbecue and games and the always popular build-your-own-raft race.
I hope that you enjoy the photos in the gallery below!
Parade Byfloaters, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
God Bless America, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Dickerson, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Essex Community Church Tractor, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Essex Community Church Float, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Fire Engines, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Ford Custom, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
4-H Float, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Lakeside School Float, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Miniature Sulky and Pony, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Miniature Sulky and Pony, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Bag Pipers, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
It was this big!, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Bag Pipers, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Crater Club Marchers, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Tie Dyed Crater Clubbers, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Bag Pipers, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Red, White & Blue, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Scholarship Winner, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Shriner, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Shriner, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Solemn Legion, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Spreading the Fun, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Spreading the Fun, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Vintage Tractor, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Vintage Tractor, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Vintage Tractor, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Triumph, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Essex Farm Float, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Valley View Firewood Float, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Fire Engine, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
Teddy Bear Picnic, 4th of July parade, Essex, NY 2013
