Essex National Heritage Area
Methuen Memorial Organ Hall
Methuen Visitors


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Methuen, Massachusetts

Route 28 (Broadway), Methuen, MA
Telephone Number: 978-685-0693

(The Industrial Trail)


The Great Organ of the Methuen Memorial Music Hall has had a distinguished history. Built in 1863 by the firm of E.F. Walcker of Ludwigsburg, Germany for the Boston Music Hall, it was the first concert organ in the United States. It soon became the musical pride of Boston. The rich foundations, shimmering strings, sparkling mixtures and brilliant reeds provide seemingly endless resources for interpretation of all periods of the organ literature.


The late Edward F. Searles of Methuen purchased the organ in 1897 and built the Methuen Memorial Music Hall, known at the time of its construction as the Serlo Organ Hall, to house it. The Hall also contains a very important work of art, the "Aurora," a sculpture executed in Carrara marble. Fifteen feet wide and eight feet high, the work is an 1897 reproduction by Carlo Nicoli of the celebrated 1614 Guido Reni fresco located in the Palazzo Rospigliosi in Rome



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