Places - Brattleboro Historical Society

Annabelle Pike and the Brooks Library (1900’s)

It was in 1882 the Brattleboro Public Library opened on Main Street. The library was located in a room in the Town Hall and was open three days a week for 8 hours a day. A large selection of books, and the knowledge found in their pages, was now available to just about everyone. There had been a privately operated and funded library in town since 1821. This was actually a reading club that was only open to those who could afford membership. The idea of a public library was a clear shift in the thinking of town leaders. Since 1842 Brattleboro readers have been privileged to borrow books: first, from its early Brattleboro Library Association and 40 years later, when the shareholders offered the books to the town, from the Brattleboro Free Library, which moved in 1887 from its quarters in the lower Town Hall to the George J. Brooks Library. In […]

A Main Street Walking Tour Of Architectural And Historic Sites

The Brattleboro Historical Society created the Main Street Walking Tour of Architectural and Historic Sites as a download and printable map that you can use to explore Downtown Brattleboro. Download the PDF

A History of Brattleboro’s Libraries 1842 to Present

Since 1842 Brattleboro readers have been privileged to borrow books: first, from its early Brattleboro Library Association and 40 years later, when the shareholders offered the books to the town from the Brattleboro Free Library. The free library moved in 1887 from its quarters in the lower Town Hall to the George J. Brooks Library. George Brooks spent his boyhood in Chesterfield, N.H., and made his fortune in a wholesale paper business on the West Coast. Upon his return to Brattleboro he planned and constructed the library building which was presented to the town and at the time was described as “beautiful and commodious”. In a special meeting in 1965, Brattleboro town meeting members voted on bond issues of $243,000 as the town’s share of the building project. Other funds were raised from the sale of the property, interested community members, and organizations. The George J. Brooks Memorial Library–completed in 1967–has continued the plans […]

Williams Street then and now.

Williams Street then and now during the construction of Interstate 91.

McNeill’s Brewery

BHS believes the building that became McNeill’s was constructed in 1892 and originally served as one of the fire stations on Elliot Street. The 1892 structure was a replacement for the fire station that had been there previously. McNeill’s moved into the building in 1990 and began brewing beer in January 1991. Ray McNeill Ray McNeill was very proud of his daughter and shared stories with The Brattleboro Historical Society. Ray would tell of the trajectory of daughter Eve’s career. We reminded him of a meeting between Eve and a BUHS teacher when Eve was at Mount Snow Academy. Eve needed a history course. She came to BUHS to find out whether or not she would take a Western Civilization course. The course was described to her and she responded, “I’m not doing that s….” Ray would laugh, at times uncontrollably and say, “That’s Eve.” We would remind him – that was you, also, Ray. […]

Hinsdale Bridge History – Eight and Counting…

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 following description of what led to the bridge collapse. “The effect of the warm sun on the super abundance of snow in the woods was beginning to be felt…Brooks swollen by the contents of other brooks fed by smaller tributaries had been pouring into the Connecticut River for days, and the accumulated volume reached flood proportions…The ice jam at East Putney broke away about 5 o’clock, snapping off trees on the river banks as though they were toothpicks in a giant’s hand. When the river here began filling…it was known that the East Putney jam had arrived…With the water higher than ever the thunderous […]

Development and Indigenous Burials

In 1922 the business community was pretty excited. Companies along Vernon Road were having a great deal of success. The White River Chair Company, Crosby Milling and Fort Dummer Cotton Mill had all settled into the southeast corner of town and caused a housing boom. Adding to the excitement was the announcement that Presbrey-Leland of New York was building a granite cutting shed at the location of the Maine-based Snow Flake Canning Company. The corn canning company had located on Vernon Road in 1898 but was a seasonal employer, while Presbrey-Leland promised year round skilled union jobs. The canning company buildings were sold off and dismantled. In their place foundations for a large granite plant were dug along the Connecticut River. It was during this process that three human skeletons were unearthed. For three days in a row, during October, 1922, a skeleton was dislodged from its grave about 30 feet from the riverbank and […]

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.

Wesselhoeft 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 mercury and other poisonous metals. About half of the patients who had surgery died from infections. It was in this medical uncertainty that Dr. Robert Wesselhoeft arrived in Brattleboro and established a “water cure” treatment facility on Elliot Street. The “water cure” aimed to work with nature to heal the body instead of attacking the body with man-made medicines. Fresh air, exercise, healthy foods, community and lots of water were the cornerstones of the Brattleboro Hydropathic Institution, locally known as the Wesselhoeft Water Cure. The “water cure” promoted a healthy lifestyle of diet and exercise. It was thought that many of the ailments facing people of the mid-1800’s stemmed from poor medical […]

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.

Madame Sherri’s Castle Ruins

Across the river from north Brattleboro, in West Chesterfield, New Hampshire, a trail winds through the Madame Sherri Forest to a set of ghostly stone stairs—the ruins of Madame Sherri’s castle, an estate whose former glory was lost to fire in 1962.

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 been a cornerstone in Brattleboro since 1836. The Retreat and it’s grounds encompass more than 1000 acres along the West River, from its stately campus and adjacent farm to a networks public trails and even a haunted tower.