Monday, October 14, 2013

Bacon Banjos in Forest Dale



Frederick Bacon had a banjo shop in Forest Dale, where he published his catalog until 1913. Whether he built banjos in this shop was debated by banjofiles everywhere, but an article published in Old Timey Music's October, 2010, clarified the speculation.

Bacon was a child prodigy banjo player. He wasn't satisfied by the quality of banjos, so he began the Bacon Banjo Company, in Forest Dale. Forest Dale is that part of Brandon that is on the "Road to Rochester" (Brandon Brook Road), today called Route 73.



Forest Dale was at one time such a bustling "metropolis" that Thomas Davenport, inventor of the first electric motor, thought this "town" was going to be the next Brandon, and moved there. In Forest Dale was the Forest Dale Iron Works, where Royal Blake was making pig iron found to be of best quality for Joseph Conant's famous wood stoves.






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