Scott Lerman - Main Street Beacon

Beacon, New York, has long been an important crossroads of the Hudson Valley. In turn, a center of brick-, then hat-, then art-making, the role of its buildings has evolved, yet strongly resonates with echoes of the past.

Over the last decade, I have methodically photographed the one-mile length of Beacon’s Main Street—documenting the facades of its most distinguished and ordinary structures. Based on those photographs, this series reveals more than just bricks and mortar.

“Main Street Beacon” is an interpretation of the history and current lives of the city’s architectural residents. Sometimes broadly, sometimes subtlety, I have drawn, cut, pasted, and scraped away features to reveal the truth of this extraordinary street at the center of the community. I hope it is a compelling invitation for others to take a walk across Beacon.

The Howland Cultural Center
477 Main Street
This 1872 Richard Morris Hunt “stick style” Gothic Victorian landmark
building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Yankee Clipper Diner
397 Main Street
Established in 1946, the diner was named after Boeing’s B-314 long-range flying boat airplane.

Beacon Movie Theater
455 Main Street
The original 1,200 seat art deco theater building was constructed in 1928,
closed in 1968, then reopened as a far smaller theater (and residences) in 2015.

Beacon Creamery
134 Main Street
The Creamery has anchored the west end of Main Street for over a decade. But its 1880 building was a part of the village of Fishkill Landing before Beacon became Beacon.

Telephone Building
291 Main Street
The 1907 Italinate building designed by Campbell & Dempsey was the Beacon exchange of The Hudson River Telephone Company

Mase Hook & Ladder
The Mase Hook and Ladder firehouse dates back to 1886.

Hudson Beach Glass
162 Main Street
The former home of Tomkins House Firehouse, built in 1885. Home of Hudson Beach Glass since 2003.

The Salvation Army Beacon Corps Community Center
372 Main Street

Chiropractor
403 Main Street
This circa 1886 mansard roofed building was once a saloon and, until recently, a chiropractor’s office.

Mechanics Savings Bank
139 Main Street
A grand granite building constructed by James Forrestal Co. in 1929. In 1956 it became the Star of Bethlehem Church. Now in transition...

Marion Royael Gallery
159 Main Street

Springfield Baptist Church
Mattie Cooper Square (Visible from Main Street down Digger Phelps Court.)

United States Post Office
369 Main Street

Former site of W. H. Jackson Carriage & Sleigh Manufacturer
378 Main Street

Beacon Dummy Light
The intersection of Main and East Main Streets
One of the last three operating “dummy lights” in the United States.

Veterans Memorial Building
413 Main Street
The memorial building was built in 1924 to house the Beacon Post of the American Legion and the Wilson Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The Roundhouse
2 East Main Street
Former textile factory, built on Fishkill Creek, in the 1800s. Opened as “The Roundhosue” hotel and restaurant in 2012.

Mobil
361 Main Street
Gas station.

Beacon Engine Company No. 1
57 East Main Street
Second Empire Victorian firehouse built in 1889.

Beacon Building
427 Main Street
Built in 1963, was once Beacon’s city hall.

Warehouse
578 Main Street
Brick structure built in 1945.

Chase
404 Main Street
Looks older, but was built in 1970.

Tabernacle of Christ Church
483 Main Street

Binnacle Books
321 Main Street

New Building
416-420 Main Street

"A Walk Down Main Street" A photographic survey of the buildings along Beacon's one mile long Main Street in 2023, 2020, and 2014.
https://beaconmain.myportfolio.com/