In 1901, they opened the pipe organ department and manufactured 3200 pipe organs. (1846-1961) manufactured 520,000 Reed or pump organs in that time. The Estey organ was manufactured in Brattleboro, Vermont about 60 miles southwest of the church is. Swell to Swell 16,4 Swell Unison Off PEDAL (32 pipes) Unusual are 5 mechanical thumb pistons which can be programmed, albeit not easily.Ĥ Swell to Great 16,8,4 Great Unison Off SWELL (73 pipes each stop except as noted)
In excellent original condition, it has tubular pneumatic action and 8 ranks of pipes on 2 manuals and pedal. This is the church’s (1786) first pipe organ. David Frederick Christopher on St.This Opus 2828 pipe organ, installed in 1929 at a cost of $3250, was a gift from brothers David and Mark Sheldon.Bryon Harrington on Hotel Rockingham, Bellows Falls, Vermont (2).Valeire Phillips on 140-144 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island.Janice Fix on Holy Name Catholic Church, Machias, Maine.The site of the building is now a parking garage, although the garage’s brick facade helps to give it the appearance of a 19th century factory building. Most of the Estey buildings are still standing, and have been preserved as a museum, but the Carpenter Organ factory here on Flat Street is long gone. Its greatest competitor, Estey Organ, did manage to survive well into the 20th century, before finally closing in 1961. By this point, musical tastes had changed, and demand for portable, in-home organs was not as high as it had been during the Victorian era. The Carpenter Organ Company continued to produce organs here until it closed around 1917. In England, Germany, Russia, Holland, Denmark, Switzerland, Australia and South Africa its agents are the leading music houses who handle the Carpenter Organ for their best trade, using other makes to supply the demand for cheaper goods.” The article also cited recent recognition given to the company, including awards at the 1890 Edinburgh Exhibition and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The first photo comes from the 1894 book Picturesque Brattleboro, which declared that “The Company makes nothing but absolutely high grade goods, and its reputation is such the world over. This six-story building had once been home to Brattleboro Melodeon Company, which had been established in 1867, and the building was likely constructed around the same time. The first photo, taken about a decade later, shows the company’s factory on Flat Street.
The elder Carpenter later relocated to Illinois, but his son subsequently returned to New England, producing organs in Worcester until 1884, when he moved the company to Brattleboro. Carpenter, had been one of the early partners in the Estey company. Carpenter, a second-generation organ maker whose father, Edwin B. The Carpenter Organ Company had originally been established in Worcester, Massachusetts by Edwin P. The largest of these was Estey Organ, which was once the largest organ manufacturer in the country, but Estey also had several competitors, including the Carpenter Organ Company, which was located here in this factory on Flat Street. Also known as pump organs, reed organs, or melodeons, these instruments enjoyed widespread popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and Brattleboro had several companies that produced them. Image from Picturesque Brattleboro (1894).ĭuring the second half of the 19th century, Brattleboro became a prosperous mill town, and one of its leading industries was the manufacturing of organs. The Carpenter Organ Company on Flat Street in Brattleboro, around 1894.