The first thing you notice when entering the main concert hall in Mechanics Hall is the gleaming pipes of the massive organ dominating the stage. It’s almost impossible to take your eyes off this impressive instrument, with its Corinthian-style columns and sumptuous decorative moldings that reach to the ceiling. Flanking the Organ on both sides, life-size portraits of two great American presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, further anchor it as the Great Hall’s stunning focal point. The Hook Organ is the oldest unaltered four-keyboard tracker pipe organ in the Western Hemisphere located at its installation site.   

Impressive to look at and thrilling to listen to, the organ has been a musical attraction for Worcester — and beyond — for more than 160 years.  In fact, it is known as the “Worcester Organ,” in part because both its construction in 1864 and restoration in 1982 were generously supported by individual donors and philanthropists, who cared deeply about their city’s cultural enrichment. Over the decades, hundreds of thousands of people have delighted in its expansive range of tones and instrumental sounds.  As one of the most popular and respected organs in the United States, it has been heard across the country numerous times on National Public Radio, as well as on television and film, and in audio and video recordings.  

Building an Organ for Worcester

How did Worcester come to acquire this masterpiece—sought after by the world’s most accomplished organists and performers?  We can thank both the Worcester County Mechanics Association and generous 19th-century Worcester industrialists.  In June of 1863 — six years after Mechanics Hall was built by the Association — Worcester industrialist Ichabod Washburn offered to pay $1,000 toward the cost of installing an organ in the Hall (with the stipulation that the Mozart Society, the City Missionary Society, and the Children’s Friend Society could all use the hall at no charge once a year for a concert). Other business leaders rallied together to raise the remaining $8,000 needed to fund the new organ —an impressive investment for that time. 
Mechanics Hall was 100% American made when it opened in 1857, and the association felt it was equally important that the organ reflect the same commitment. Worcester in the mid-19th century was a thriving industrial center, demonstrating to the young nation that skilled labor, raw materials, and finished goods of the highest quality could all be found here on American soil.  
Considered among the finest organ builders in the country at the time, Elias and George Hook of Boston began installation of the Hook Organ in October 1863. The powerful sound of this custom-built instrument filled the acoustically perfect Great Hall for the first time upon its installation in 1864. Made up of 3,504 pipes and 52 stops, this was the largest instrument the E. and G. G. Hook design and manufacturing company had constructed to date, inspiring the organ’s official name: “E. and G. G. Hook (Opus 334, 1864).,” 

Learn more about The Worcester Organ, built by the Hook brothers.