Harris Hill
In the beginning, the hill was 740 feet long. The landing space was 250 feet with a drop from the top to bottom of 284 feet. It was a big hill and it would get bigger.Continue reading→
The Brattleboro Retreat
Go north on Main Street through downtown Brattleboro, past the library and bubbling Wells Fountain, and you’ll crest the hill onto a public park. Look through the trees and you’ll see flickers of an elegant clock tower. This clock tower watches over college-like campus of the Brattleboro Retreat, a pioneering mental health hospital that has...Continue reading→
The Latchis Hotel & Theater
The Latchis Main Theatre has stood as is since 1938 and is a member of the League of Historic American Theatres. Bedecked with Greek murals by the Hungarian-American painter Louis Jambor, swaddled in velvet curtains, and accented with a panoramic view of the Zodiac on the ceiling, this theatre has welcomed everything from the first...Continue reading→
Wells Fountain
The Fountain Wells Fountain, one of Brattleboro’s best-loved landmarks, stand proudly on the northern edge of its downtown shopping district. Designed in 1890 by Brattleboro architect William Rutherford Mead (cousin to President Rutherford B. Hayes) and funded by William Henry Wells, Brattleboro native and new York businessman; this lovely granite fountain features two fierce lion...Continue reading→
Indigenous Sites – Wantastegok: The Place of the River Where Things Are Lost
Since long before the advent of writing, right here in the Connecticut River Valley there have lived a people known as the Sokoki Abenaki (or, translated into English from the original Sokwakiak, “The People Who Separated”). They are the original people of this place, and they are still here. Their native tongue, Aln8ba8dwaw8gan—the Western Abenaki...Continue reading→
Mount Wantastiquet
Foremost among Brattleboro’s many striking geographical features is Mount Wantastiquet. Rising some 1300 feet above sea level in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, the mountain looms over downtown Brattleboro from across the Kwenitekw/Connecticut River—a long, lush shoulder glittering green in spring and summer, burning red, orange, and gold through autumn, and blanketed white in winter.Continue reading→
Fort Dummer, by Jessica Nolan
By JESSICA DOLAN One of the historical sites in Brattleboro that is a key site for Indigenous history, and the history of competition between England and France to settle North America, is Fort Dummer. The history of Fort Dummer takes us into the beginning of the 18th Century, at a time when Sokokis, other Abenakis,...Continue reading→
Construction of BUHS – The Brattleboro Union High School
This week in Brattleboro History we are traveling back seventy years, to June 21, 1949. It was on this date that Brattleboro voted to build a new high school on the fairgrounds. The old high school was on Main Street and many thought it was inadequate. There was no gym or auditorium. The classrooms were...Continue reading→
The Holstein Association
Since 1903, the largest dairy breed organization in the world has been headquartered in downtown Brattleboro. Still going strong over 100 years after its founding, Holstein Association USA is the central information hub for dairy producers all across the country, maintaining the records for all ancestry, identity, ownership and performance information on more than 22...Continue reading→
The Valley Fair
The Valley Fair in Brattleboro began in 1886. It was held for one day in the 2nd week of October and had over 5000 attendees. Farmers exhibited cattle, horses, poultry, sheep, pigs, dogs, fruits and vegetables, and many ribbons were awarded. It was an agricultural fair and the local organizers prided themselves on keeping the...Continue reading→
Neighborhoods: Centreville
SINCE 1860 – The (Nearly) Forgotten Centreville is a nearly forgotten neighborhood located mainly on Western Avenue, the busy Vermont Deli thrives today in the heart of it. Extending along Western Avenue from approximately I-91, Exit 2 to the Creamery Bridge, it includes Guilford Street to Elm Corners (intersection of Maple St. and Guilford St.)...Continue reading→
Hinsdale Bridge
The Hinsdale Bridge Collapse Saturday, March 28, 1920 the Hinsdale Bridge between Brattleboro and Island Park collapsed into the Connecticut River. The winter had produced a great deal of snow, a warm spell caused a quick melt, and eight to ten inches of ice were still on the river. The Brattleboro Daily Reformer gave the...Continue reading→