Soldiers’ Monument Tablet on Juneteenth
On June 19, 2022 the town of Brattleboro unveiled a corrective and interpretative tablet that was placed next to the Civil War Soldiers' Monument. A town committee crafted the text of the tablet and the Select Board approved the new installation and funding for the...
Richard Hamilton Speaks At Memorial Day Remembrance
On May 27, 2022 Richard Hamilton, a 1940 graduate of Brattleboro High School, spoke to an audience of more than 400 people on the front lawn of BUHS. He shared stories of growing up in West Brattleboro and attending public schools. This was part of a Memorial Day...
The Bradshaw’s
What was it like to be a young African American family settling into 1820’s Brattleboro? In 1823 a young couple in their twenties, with a small child, moved to Brattleboro from Massachusetts. Andrew and Phoebe Bradshaw rented a building on Main Street to begin...
Hinsdale Bridge
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’s burgeoning ski industry
Brattleboro's Burgeoning Ski IndustryIn 1935 Brattleboro was well-known in the burgeoning New England skiing community. The annual Brattleboro Outing Club ski jump attracted thousands of people to the area every year. New Englanders came to Brattleboro all winter to...
Brooks House
In November 1869 the St. Albans Weekly Messenger reported on the status of Brattleboro, a town that was about as far away from St. Albans as you could get and still be in Vermont. The paper was commenting on Brattleboro’s recent hard times. In October, a Whetstone Brook freshet had wiped out many of the businesses along the brook and in early November a fire had destroyed all of the businesses on the west side of Main Street between Elliot and High Streets.
Breweries
C2H5OH: BANNED!
Prohibition came to New England much earlier than it did to much of the rest of the country. In 1851 Maine passed a law banning the sale of alcoholic beverages. By 1855 all New England states had adopted a version of the Maine law, including Vermont.
Wesselhoeft Water Cure
Dr. WesselhoeftIn the 1840’s one in five children born alive did not live to see their 1st birthday. The average life expectancy was less than 40 years. Many doctors bled their patients when they didn’t feel well and prescribed medicines that contained mercury and...
Maple Sugaring
Sugar ImportAbout 125 years ago the Vermont Phoenix, a Brattleboro newspaper, published an article by local sugar maker John Gale concerning the annual gathering of maple sap during the early spring. The practice was learned from Indigenous peoples of the Northeast...
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 people attend. Farmers exhibited cattle, horses, poultry, sheep, pigs, dogs, fruits and vegetables, and many ribbons were awarded.