Lily Dale Assembly was formed in 1879 when early Spiritualists bought twenty acres of land for camp meetings where they discussed their beliefs and practiced healing and mediumship. Named for the abundance of water lilies on the lake, Lily Dale grew to become the center of modern Spiritualism. The movement traced its beginnings to 1848 in Hydesville near Rochester, where the Fox sisters heard rappings in their cottage and believed they could use the tapped language to communicate with the dead. Lily Dale expanded steadily, with a hotel built in 1880, the Children's Lyceum started in 1881 in a tent, an auditorium built in 1883 to host speaking events, the Marion H. Skidmore Library founded in 1886 in a tent and later housed in Assembly Hall until its present building was completed in 1924, and Assembly Hall and a post office established in 1888. By 1893 Lily Dale contained 215 cottages. The Fox cottage, considered so important to the religion that it was moved to Lily Dale in 1915 and set up as a shrine to Spiritualism, had first been associated with the Hydesville manifestations. Many visitors arrived by train on the west side of the lake and crossed the bridge to enter through the gate. A great fire in 1900 burned many cottages, and another fire in 1955 destroyed the Fox cottage, though some artifacts were saved and can still be seen in the Lily Dale Museum. The library holds the largest collection of books on Spiritualism in the world, and the 1883 auditorium, remodeled in 1901, hosted many famous people, including Susan B. Anthony.