Vermont

A look back on the riveting history of Vermont, featuring stories from the American Revolution and the summoning of spirits.

Vermont's history is marked by fierce independence, generosity of spirit and the saga of human life along its steep slopes and fertile valleys. Meet the widow who outwitted Tories and may have spied for the Green Mountain Boys. Encounter the family who gained a national following by summoning spirits. Discover why one governor opposed women's suffrage and how that may have involved spirits of another sort. Visit an island retreat where Harpo Marx cheated at croquet and satirist Dorothy Parker wore nothing but a garden hat. Historian Mark Bushnell offers a glimpse of the Green Mountain State rarely seen.

Located on the western border of Vermont, Shoreham's 36 square miles are comprised of rich farmland, wooded areas, and swift-flowing streams that powered a variety of mills and an iron foundry over the years. An excellent grade of black marble was quarried from the shore in the 19th century and sold in both the United States and Europe. The main industry in Shoreham is agriculture, though it changed from being the largest sheep producer in Vermont during the 1800s to mainly dairy farms and apple orchards in the 1900s. A congressman, two governors of Vermont, a vice president of the United States, and many scholars all were born, raised, and educated in Shoreham. This little town and its indomitable people continue to innovate and thrive as it enters the 21st century.

The cultural landscape of Williamstown has been strongly influenced by the settlers who traveled far and wide to get there. Originally, a large number of Scots, French Canadians, and Italian craftsmen were lured to the west hills of Vermont to take advantage of the promising granite quarries. Williamstown used many of its natural resources to develop into a small, thriving community. Today, the village still has its classic white churches and small stores where residents once gathered with their neighbors to socialize and share local news. The expanded rural areas outside the village have retained much of what they once had, including historic farmhouses, open fields, stone walls, and Ainsworth State Park in the Williamstown Gulf.

St. Johnsbury, known to many as the transportation center of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, has a history as fascinating as it is long. Come explore this dynamic past: learn about the St. Johnsbury Trucking Company and the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum; meet the Fairbanks family, who made many significant cultural contributions to the area; and see the many architectural gems from the Victorian period on Main Street, as well as the birthplace of Dr. Bob, who co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous. Most of the images that have been selected for this fascinating visual history are rare and previously unpublished, but many of them--although they may have seemed commonplace when originally taken--give us a tremendous insight into the way life was lived in the last century. As well as giving us an understanding of the important themes in St. Johnsbury's rich history, this book also shares a more intimate past by preserving scenes of ordinary folk at work and at play; of education and enterprise; and of celebrations and disasters. What shines throughout these photographs, whether they show the opulence of the Fairbanks' home or some of St. Johnsbury's young men marching off to war, is the fine Yankee spirit characteristic of the people of St. Johnsbury which can be recognized in the town's citizens even today.

An interesting history of Colchester, one of Vermont's oldest and largest communities.

Chartered in 1763 and rumored to be one of Vermont's best-kept secrets, Colchester is among the state's oldest and largest communities, with twenty-seven miles of shoreline on Lake Champlain. Colchester's spirit reflects the bustling industrial activity of Winooski Falls and the agrarian roots of its pioneers. Ethan and Ira Allen were notable early residents, as was the flamboyant Captain Mallett, after whom Lake Champlain's largest bay is named. Colchester is divided into five distinct geographic parts-Colchester Village, Malletts Bay, Clay Point, Fort Ethan Allen, and Winooski (the urban village that would separate from Colchester in 1922)-and includes many images of the glorious lake that continues to influence the town's character.

Burlington Police Department detective Jeff Beerworth explores the nature of crime and justice in the Queen City.

As Burlington grew into a city out of wilderness, more citizens meant more opportunities for crime. Horse thefts, murders and drunken brawls swamped the young and prosperous city. Those misdeeds inspired the first officers of what would become the Burlington Police Department to serve and protect. Step behind the scenes of the Griwold murder case, the Mad Riot of 1898 and the murder of Officer James McGrath. Glimpse the dangers of police work and the shared human experiences of the city's officers and the citizens they serve.

Four years after the American Revolution, in 1787, Colonel Jacob Davis became the first to clear land in the new settlement that had been chartered as Montpelier. The name honored France for its support of the American patriots. Disasters, industries and larger-than-life personalities helped shape the city's identity. And it didn't take long for Montpelier to make a name for itself--its location created a prime manufacturing hub, and the Vermont Central Railroad made travel convenient. The city also became the scene of the fire of 1875 and the Gould-Caswell murder. Join local historian Paul Heller as he compiles significant moments of Montpelier's past.

Family stories are a part of oral history. They are told to inform younger generations about events heretofore not recorded. Brattleboro Remembers is a collection of such stories accompanied by the rich assortment of historical photographs that stirred these memories of earlier days in the southeastern corner of Vermont.

Brattleboro Remembers emerged as a result of writing workshops sponsored by the Brattleboro Historical Society and made possible by a grant from the Council on Aging for Southeastern Vermont. The workshops, facilitated by poet and writing partner Verandah Porche, took place on winter Sunday afternoons. The walls of the room in which the group met were covered with copies of historical photographs. The workshop participants, most of whom still live in Brattleboro, selected photographs that brought back strong recollections. After studying an image, they wrote autobiographical pieces based on what came to mind. For those shy about putting pen to paper, volunteer scribes were on hand to listen to the stories and help the participants get their reminiscences down on paper.

Tucked away in the dark forests of Vermont's Northeast
Kingdom, St. Johnsbury was mostly unbroken wilderness
when first chartered in 1786. Swinging axes soon made way
for the burgeoning split-level town, with stately Main Street
homes on St. Johnsbury Plain presiding in grandeur over the
bustling commerce of Railroad Street below. Peggy Pearl brings
a decidedly human element to this comprehensive history,
wandering the graves of Mount Pleasant Cemetery and bringing
to life the stories of those tanners, cobblers, millworkers and
brick makers who made St. Johnsbury their home. With excerpts from vintage newspapers like the Caledonian-Record and the Farmer's Herald, Pearl unfolds the transformation from quiet mill town into picturesque manufacturing hub of Caledonia County.

In 1765, pioneers spent their first long winter on the banks of the Connecticut River in the section of wilderness that would become the town of Norwich, Vermont. These settlers and their families fought hard to turn the rough terrain into a thriving farming and manufacturing community that would soon boast 20 school districts and a prominent military academy. Although winters were harsh and the demands of daily chores were never ending, the residents of
Norwich still found time to lead full and varied lives. The manufacturing and military communities are gone now, but that fascinating past will come alive in these remarkable images of Norwich families at work and at play.

Although Springfield was chartered in 1761, residents did not begin taking advantage of the waterpower on the Black River until the 1800s. Once dams were built to harness the water, mills and factories followed. Innovation could not be stopped, and for the next 150 years one invention or improvement after another emerged from this little town. Things like the spring clothespin and sandpaper were invented in Springfield as well as world-famous tool-making machines such as the turret lathe and gear shaping and grinding machines. Improvements were also made to textile-processing machinery. A combination of the right people at the right place and time allowed Springfield, the "little town that did," to transform from an agrarian and mill town to the home of a world-renowned machine tool industry.

Founded by a famously scheming New Hampshire governor, Glastenbury struggled for over a century to break triple digits in population. A small charcoal-making industry briefly flourished after the Civil War, yet by 1920 Glastenbury counted fewer than twenty inhabitants. The end came officially in 1937, when the state, following a spirited debate, formally disincorporated the town. Yet Glastenbury's legacy lives on in Tyler Resch's lively and amusing history. Follow Resch as he chronicles the community's compelling, if always precarious, existence. From mysterious murders and curious development schemes to the township's eventual annexation by the U.S. Forest Service, Glastenbury narrates the ultimately redemptive tale of a community that lost its political status, only to gain a national forest.

Orleans County is a quiet, rural county in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. In the late 18th and early 19th century, southern New England settlers moved north to the hills and valleys where the Native American Abenaki had long resided. Life in Orleans County was hard and isolated, with travel often curtailed by intense winter weather and deep spring mud. But instead of leaving the beautiful land, the people made their own civilization and settled into country life. Images of America: Orleans County highlights the men and women who farmed the land and took part in the growth of industry. Historic photographs portray the county's evolution as the number of farms decreased and factory work increased, transportation progressed from wagon and sleigh to the automobile and railroad, and agriculture moved from horse-powered equipment to gas-powered tractors.

Bennington is the oldest incorporated town in Vermont, and the area is one of the most historic parts of the state. The well-known story of Bennington's early days includes tales of the Battle of Bennington and the adventures of Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. Bennington carries the story of this community forward into the twentieth century. It pictures the town's development as a producer of textiles, paper, and a wide array of goods, including the town's famous pottery. At the same time, the area has remained a picturesque region that attracts artists, poets, and summer visitors.

Bennington explores the scenic town with more than two hundred vintage photographs from the Bennington Museum and private collections, many of which have never before been published. The area's growth and diversity are evident in views of the changing architecture, transportation, and recreational activities. Victorian estates of industrialists offset the row houses of the mid-1800s mill workers. The family horse is replaced by the trolley and then by the motor car, such as the Martin Wasp. Bennington tells a story that reveals the rich character of this historic Vermont town.

Once a small clearing in the woods, Montpelier today sits at the center of Vermont's civic and cultural life. Its artists, legislators, innovators and leaders have made the nation's smallest state capital a crossroads for all. Glimpse the only surviving photographs of the second State House--taken just years before it burned--and the welcome given to Admiral George Dewey, fresh from victory in the Spanish-American War, by the largest crowd the city has ever seen. Survey the wreckage of the 1927 flood, learn how Montpelier's glorious historic district came to life and follow the footsteps of presidents passing through town.
Gathered together for the first time, these timeless images show Montpelier's citizens in their grittiest, saddest, happiest and most triumphant moments.