Chestnut and Essex

by Laurel | September 10th, 2009

Corner of Essex and Chestnut, About 1998

The Essex, Corner of Essex and Chestnut Streets, 1998

Last night I was trying to sort through some of my older photographs and found a set I had completely forgotten about. They were taken with my first generation Sony Mavica camera, using a 3.5″ disks, circa 1998. I haven’t checked if there is exif data associated with the images, I doubt it, but my records show they were taken about 11 years ago. I had spent the afternoon at the library and had to stop and grab these pics. It was painful to see this gorgeous building boarded up and crumbling. The location is the corner of Chestnut and Essex Streets.

Checking it out via Microsoft’s mapping site, I captured the image below. I was surprised to see it still standing, though certainly seems the worse for wear and neglect. Obviously, satellite images are not updated all that often, so it may actually be an inaccurate depiction of what is on the site presently.

Can anyone tell me if the building is actually still there and if anything has been done to improve it?

The building is dated 1888 by the way.

More pictures after the jump.

Corner of Essex and Chestnut Streets, 1998

The Essex, Corner of Essex and Chestnut Streets, 1998

The Essex, Corner of Essex and Chestnut Streets, 1998

The Essex, Corner of Essex and Chestnut Streets, 1998

The Essex, Corner of Essex and Chestnut Streets, from Microsoft maps, 2009

The Essex, Corner of Essex and Chestnut Streets, from Microsoft maps, 2009

One Response to “Chestnut and Essex”

  1. Hi! The buildings is still there and is still moth balled (roof and windows sealed.) If you got Associated Building Wreckers into the building, or the fire department, they would shake their heads and say it should come down. But it looks to be in pretty good shape from the outside! The building is clearly a GEM!

    The library is in the early stages of a MAJOR capital campaign, so perhaps that project will spur some ancillary redevelopment?

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