Hinsdale Bridge

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 industry

Ski Town Brattleboro Reformer Saturday Feature Brattleboro’s Burgeoning Ski Industry In 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...
Brooks House

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

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

Wesselhoeft Water Cure

Water Cure Dr. Wesselhoeft In 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...
Maple Sugaring

Maple Sugaring

Maple Sugaring Sugar Import About 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...