Methuen Memorial Music Hall
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Methuen Memorial Music Hall
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Methuen Memorial Music Hall
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| Location | 192 Broadway Methuen, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1909 |
| Architect | Henry Vaughan |
| NRHP Reference # | 78000462 |
| Added to NRHP | December 14, 1978 |
Methuen Memorial Music Hall, initially named Serlo Organ Hall, was built by Edward Francis Searles to house "The Great Organ", a very large pipe organ that had been built for the Boston Music Hall. The hall was completed in 1909, and stands at 192 Broadway in Methuen, Massachusetts.
"The Great Organ" was built by the E.F Walcker Company of Ludwigsburg, Germany. It arrived in the US from Europe in March 1863, with installation completed in November 1863. It was at the time believed to be the largest pipe organ in the United States. Since then the count has gone up to its present 6,088 pipes and 84 registers. It was the first concert organ in the United States and was installed at the Boston Music Hall.
The organ case was made of American black walnut by the Herter Brothers of New York, for whom Searles had once worked, and is based on a case design by Hammatt Billings. The display pipes were manufactured from burnished Cornish tin.
In 1881, the Boston Symphony Orchestra was founded, and the Boston Music Hall was their first home. The orchestra required a lot of space for the performers. With the rise in popularity of orchestral concerts, interest in organ recitals declined. The organ was removed to storage in 1884 and then sold for $5,000 to William O. Grover. Grover probably intended to donate the organ to the New England Conservatory of Music, but after his death circa 1897, it was auctioned to settle his estate. Searles purchased it at auction for $1,500 and began construction of a music hall in Methuen.
In 1899, Searles hired noted church architect Henry Vaughan, an architect he frequently hired for various projects, to design a concert hall for the organ to be located on property he owned adjoining the Spicket River. Probably no other building of this size has been built solely to house a pipe organ.
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