Haskell Free Library and Opera House
Encyclopedia
The Haskell Free Library and Opera House is a neoclassical
building that straddles the international border in Rock Island (now part of Stanstead, Quebec
) and Derby Line, Vermont
. The Opera House opened on June 7, 1904, and was built on the border between Canada
and the United States
.
The library
collection and the opera
stage are located in Stanstead, but the door and most opera seats are located in Derby Line. Because of this, the Haskell is sometimes called "the only library in U.S.A. with no books" and "the only opera house in U.S.A. with no stage". Its two addresses are 93 Caswell Avenue, Derby Line, Vermont and 1 Church Street, Stanstead, Quebec.
A thick black line runs beneath the seats of the opera house and diagonally across the center of the library's reading room to mark the international boundary. The stage and half of the seats are in Canada, the remainder of the opera hall is in the US.
The library has a collection of more than 20,000 books in French and English, and is open to the public 38 hours a week. Registered in the National Register of Historic Places
since 1976 and also a Canadian historical site and provincial heritage building of Quebec, this landmark also appeared in Ripley's Believe It or Not.
The opera house on the second floor was rumored to be modeled after the old Boston Opera House
in a somewhat scaled down fashion (it seats four hundred), but the Boston Opera house was built afterwards. A painted scene of Venice
on the drop curtain and 4 other scenes by Erwin Lamoss (1901) and plaster scrollwork complete with plump cherubs
built in Boston
ornament the opera hall and balcony in this historic building, which was constructed with 2 foot (0.6096 m) walls built of granite
from Stanstead.
The Haskell family later donated the building to the towns of Derby Line and Rock Island in Mr. Haskell's memory; it is run by a private international board of four American and three Canadian directors.
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
building that straddles the international border in Rock Island (now part of Stanstead, Quebec
Stanstead, Quebec
Stanstead is a town of about 3,000 people, part of the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Québec. Stanstead is located on the Canada-United States border across from Derby Line, Vermont....
) and Derby Line, Vermont
Derby Line, Vermont
Derby Line is an incorporated village in the town of Derby in Orleans County, Vermont, United States, slightly north of the 45th parallel, the normal U.S.-Canadian boundary...
. The Opera House opened on June 7, 1904, and was built on the border between Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
collection and the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
stage are located in Stanstead, but the door and most opera seats are located in Derby Line. Because of this, the Haskell is sometimes called "the only library in U.S.A. with no books" and "the only opera house in U.S.A. with no stage". Its two addresses are 93 Caswell Avenue, Derby Line, Vermont and 1 Church Street, Stanstead, Quebec.
A thick black line runs beneath the seats of the opera house and diagonally across the center of the library's reading room to mark the international boundary. The stage and half of the seats are in Canada, the remainder of the opera hall is in the US.
The library has a collection of more than 20,000 books in French and English, and is open to the public 38 hours a week. Registered in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
since 1976 and also a Canadian historical site and provincial heritage building of Quebec, this landmark also appeared in Ripley's Believe It or Not.
History
The building was created by American sawmill owner Carlos Haskell and his Canadian wife Martha Stewart Haskell for use by the people of both countries; profits from the opera house were originally intended to support the operation of the free library.The opera house on the second floor was rumored to be modeled after the old Boston Opera House
Boston Opera House (1909)
The Boston Opera House was an opera house located on Huntington Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. It opened in 1909 as the home of the Boston Opera Company and was demolished in 1958 after years of disuse....
in a somewhat scaled down fashion (it seats four hundred), but the Boston Opera house was built afterwards. A painted scene of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
on the drop curtain and 4 other scenes by Erwin Lamoss (1901) and plaster scrollwork complete with plump cherubs
CHERUBS
CHERUBS is a Non-Profit Organization. It was founded in February, 1995 for families of children born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, a severe and often lethal birth defect. It was founded and currently led by Dawn M...
built in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
ornament the opera hall and balcony in this historic building, which was constructed with 2 foot (0.6096 m) walls built of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
from Stanstead.
The Haskell family later donated the building to the towns of Derby Line and Rock Island in Mr. Haskell's memory; it is run by a private international board of four American and three Canadian directors.