Estey Organ Museum

Address 108 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT

The Estey Organ Company was founded in Brattleboro in 1852 and grew to become one of the largest organ manufacturers in the world, at one point employing 700 workers in a factory complex on Birge Street. The reed organs they made — foot-pumped parlour instruments — ended up in homes, churches, and mission stations across the English-speaking world during the Victorian era.

The factory closed in 1961, but the building complex survived and is now a National Register site housing the Estey Organ Museum. The collection includes instruments from various periods of production, tools and manufacturing equipment, and documents from the company's history. The museum operates on a modest scale but provides a vivid picture of what was once Brattleboro's major industry, and the factory buildings themselves are architecturally impressive for a small New England town.

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A story
At its peak in the late 19th century, the Estey Organ Company employed 700 workers and produced more organs than any other manufacturer in the world — over 500,000 reed organs and 3,200 pipe organs shipped to churches, schools, and parlours across Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the British Empire. The factory complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been converted into a museum and mixed-use space.