Submitted by lottabigbluewater t3_10lv44m in vermont
I'll start by saying that I know nothing about history. I am curious why so many buildings in Vermont were constructed in the 1880s and 1890s. Was there an influx of population then? Was there more money during that time? Or is this not true, and I've been noticing a trend that doesn't really exist.
Thanks!
I think you mean flatlanders. /s
Ok, you want to play that game.. so you're a real native huh. like native American? ..like your family didn't fuck anyone over when they came to Vermont 400 years ago?
I'm guessing you don't know what the /s means?
My family didn't come to Vermont, I did.
"Industrial revolution"
Wasn't that more in the late 1700s to mid 1800s? At least that's what I saw online earlier.
Well yes in many respects it began with the proliferation of the circular saw in the early 1800s, and the invention of coal-powered engines, but the effects of the revolution were cumulative and came to a head post civil war in the US. A LOT of this has to do with the completion of railroads in Vermont, which was the biggest factor in enabling the state to "participate" in the industrial revolution on a large scale.
Ok, thanks for the explanation!
Vermont was generally late to industrialization and never industrialized to the same extent of really any other Northeastern state, even Maine or New Hampshire. Its further from major ports (the Connecticut River isn't easily navigable past Greenfield, Mass and goods going to the St. Lawrence would have to pass an international boundary) and the logistics of freight rail in the mountains for the most part didn't make financial sense until the quarries in Rutland and Barre became highly valued export commodities.
One thing people are leaving out beyond immigration is that similar to Massachusetts 50 years earlier, there was a big migration of people from rural towns in Vermont into larger industrial centers during this period looking for better paying jobs as well as education and other services you couldn't get in farming towns. If you look at the census data, the populations in the small towns in Vermont fell basically across the board in the late 19th century while the bigger towns like Rutland or Barre grew dramatically.
Also, apart from what other people have answered, Vermont has always had the reputation of being a pure and agricultural land that is unsullied by the nastiness of industry and the sins of cities. In the 1880s, there was an influx of wealthy industrialists wanting to make homes in a better area for their families. In a lot of ways, Vermont was seen as the pinnacle of wholesomeness.
So, you have barons of industry moving to Vermont, buying land and building mansions. They imported specialist labor like Italian stoneworkers for their specialties. There were architects such as Brattleboro Native Richard Morris Hunt that specialized in designing these estates for the very rich.
Also, it was very common at the time for rich people to fund projects for the public good such a libraries, churches, hospitals, schools etc. for various reasons from keeping a good name in the community to building a family legacy. Vermonter Lambert Packard designed a bunch of beautiful buildings during this time period - churches, office blocks, banks, schools and museums.
They also probably funded those projects for some kick-ass tax write-offs.
No doubt at all!
This is awesome. Thank you!
Well to be more specific the lumber industry boom allowed cheap lumber in large quantities to be produced which led to the widespread adoption of "balloon framing" of houses, similar to the typical stud framing of today. This was opposed to the traditional timber framing methods which were much for labor and material intensive, not to mention requiring very skilled craftsmen to properly construct the house.
I used to live in a balloon frame house near a former large lumber operation on the CT River. During renovations I found the lathe and plaster guy signed the date in an ‘interior/insulation’ layer, ‘Oct 1888’.
The entire neighborhood had a sort of row house construction - nearly all the houses were the same design and built at the same time.
Railroads probably a big contributor to the timing of development, which probably also led to road improvements since you'd need to be able to get around once you got off the train. Recently read my great grandfather's diaries, who wrote of hopping on a train from CT to Brattleboro, then up to Ludlow to sell books and magazines door to door for a Summer in the 1890s. He bought a bicycle in Brattleboro and used that to get around locally so roads were probably pretty good by then. He wrote about riding his bike from Ludlow up to Proctorsville. Must have been an absolutely gorgeous ride back then (still is today), though also probably a bit challenging with books in tow!
I'll add to the other comments by noting that in my home town, there were a bunch of devastating fires that wreaked havoc on Main Street and the downtown area, followed by the rebuilding using brick and stone rather than wood. A lot of downtowns have beautiful old brick buildings dating from that period - they were well built and resistant to fire and so there's been no reason to replace them.
So I think there's an aspect of building for sustainability to it too.
Royalton?
Brattleboro.
[deleted]
That's when they opened the granite mines and started building buildings not out of wood?
TheTowerBard t1_j5z6of7 wrote
That was a period of huge growth throughout the northeast and really the whole country. We had a huge influx of immigrants and we built a lot of stuff real fast.