This now empty building was built in 1897. It served as the chapel for St. Luke's Episcopal Missionary church when the village of Slatersville featured a thriving mill along the banks of the Blackstone River. When the mill closed, however, the Missionary likewise closed. The building was renamed Lincoln Hall, and it was both a meeting house and a community entertainment center. In 1913, it was again sold, this time to Union Grange #13, Patrons of Husbandry. For the next 81 years, it served as a Grange Hall, until in 1994 it was donated to the North Smithfield Heritage Association and renamed Heritage Hall. Sadly, the beautiful historic building is not currently in use, and a "For Rent" sign adorns the side facing a parking lot. Notice the odd construction of the tower-like steeple. The original mission church had a traditional New England style steeple. Unfortunately, the top of the steeple did not survive the 1938 hurricane, and only the base remains.
I had originally planned to do this shot either as a black and white or as a copper monochrome. I just couldn't bring myself to lose the fantastic colors in the original. Post processing started out with a photo pop filter in Topaz Adjust. I then ran it through Color Color, a Photoshop plug-in that brightens colors without losing sharpness or adding noise. (It's like the saturation adjustment, only without the destructive properties.) I then removed two very annoying power and telephone lines that spoiled the historic aspect of the building. A slight levels adjustment and a slight saturation adjustment completed the image. I tried several photo filters but concluded that none of them enhanced the image, so this one's unfiltered.
What a wonderful old church building! The tree and the picket fence just add to the charm! I do hope someone will rescue this historic building. Your editing is wonderful, so natural looking... far more advanced than I am! Fav!
