Piano Factory, Fort Lee - found!

It was disappointing to read in a book on Fort Lee that the Abbott & Sons Piano Factory had been razed. Matt and I discovered its historic location on our visit to Fort Lee; a bank building is presently on the site of the original factory building. The Port Authority is on the spot where the later brick factory stood. We found photos of both piano factory buildings in some of the materials we discovered.

A photo of the original Abbott & Sons Piano Factory
from a book on Fort Lee that we found in the
Ridgewood Public Library.

Abbott & Sons Piano Factory, the later brick building 
that was next to the original wood sided building.

Then we learned that the original building had been MOVED to Main Street! Using Google Maps and Google Earth along with clues from our new sources, I began a mission to find it. I traveled virtually up and down Main Street. At first, I was looking for the newer brick building, not imagining that the original white sided building would be the one that was saved. Then I spotted it. It was unmistakable. There was the familiar roof peeking above the facade of a Chinese restaurant at 214 Main Street. 

The familiar roof line of the original piano factory
building peeking over the restaurant.

From behind the restaurant on the corner of Main Street and Gerome Avenue

The current name of the business

The view from Google Earth

Aerial photo from the book, Fort Lee, by Lucille Bertram.
You can see the original piano factory building on the corner at Lemoine Avenue.
The brick factory building is at the center of the photo.

Future Plans

My family tree has been developed as far - or farther than - I could have ever dreamed. It is time to halt  trying to build my tree, and to begin carefully verifying every person and fact that I have entered into it. There are some unanswered questions that I will continue to seek to answer. I will go back through all of my emails and online contacts to identify loose ends. 

I have enough information to begin putting together a book for my family.

Update: My retirement dreams are becoming reality! Next month I am moving into a beach condo, which will mean a drastic reduction in material possessions as well as social responsibilities. I will have abundant  unburdened TIME to work on my Ancestry goals. Finally, I can redirect my energies from the care and maintenance of possessions to the legacy projects that my heart longs to do. It means more time for reflection and self care. 

I am grateful to family members who are supportive and helpful in this process. Moral support from family and friends is EVERYTHING.