Lily Dale Assembly

Lily Dale Assembly. Spiritualism's Largest Community. , Lily Dale Timeline , 1955 Fox cottage burns. , 1924 Marion H. Sidmore Library building constructed. , 1915 Fox cottage moved to Lily Dale. , 1900 Great Lily Dale fire burns many cottages. , 1893 Lily Dale contains 215 cottages. , 1888 Assembly Hall built. Post Office established. , 1886 Marion H. Skidmore library founded in a tent in the park. , 1883 Auditorium built to host speaking events. , 1881 Children's Lyceum started, in a tent. , 1880 Hotel built. , 1879 Twenty acres of land purchased for camp meetings. , 1879 Lily Dale Assembly formed. , 1848 Fox sisters experence Hydesville manifestations. , Lily Dale Lily Dale was formed by an early group of Spiritualists who bought land for camp meetings where they discussed their beliefs and practiced their healing and mediumship. The camp was named Lily Dale for the abundance of water lilies on the lake, and it grew to become the center of modern Spiritualism. , Marion H. Skidmore Library The library was founded in 1886 in a tent across from the Pagoda, and was then housed in the Assembly Hall buiding until 1924, when the present building was finished. The Library houses the largest collection of books on Spiritualism in the world. , Entrance Gate c1910 Many visitors arrived at a train station on the west side of the lake and walked across the bridge to enter Lily Dale through this gate. , Birth of Modern Spiritualism The Spiritualist movement was started in Hydesville, near Rochester, when two young girls, the Fox sisters, heard strange rappings on the walls of their cottage. After learning the tapped language they believed hey were able to use it to communicate with the dead. The believers say hey are able to contact spirits of the dead through gifted members of the group, called mediums. , Fox Cottage The Fox cottage was considered so important to the religion that it was moved to Lily Dale in 1915 and set up as a shrine to Spiritualism. In 1955 a fire destroyed the cottage, but some artifacts were saved and can still be seen in the Lily Dale Museum. , Auditorium Built in 1883 and remodeled in 1901, many famous people, including Susan B. Anthony have appeared in the 1200 seat auditorium.