Driving from Middlebury to Rutland Vermont

…continuing with our exploration of the northeastern USA in August 2018.

After leaving Middlebury, we followed VT Hwy. 125 through the Green Mountains National Forest.  This National Forest, established in 1932, covers over 399,000 acres.  The famed Appalachian Trail passes through this preserve.

I had plans for us to visit a couple of country stores during the remainder of our trip, so we didn’t stop at the Ripton Country Store along VT Hwy. 125. 

This store is still in business thanks to an op-ed in the New York Times.  The most recent owners who had operated the store since 1976, were retiring and the store was in danger of being closed.  The store had been open since 1879!  A buyer was needed and the editorial in the Times lauded the store in an effort to help the owners find a buyer.  The effort was successful and new owners are continuing to operate the store in this village that has a population of less than 600.

The building at the left of this photo is Ripton’s Town Hall.  Originally it was a Congregational Church that was built in 1838.  Due to the manpower shortage during the Civil War, construction of the Methodist Episcopal Church at the right of the Town Hall, began in October of 1862 but wasn’t completed until March of 1864.  The Ripton Community Church is now affiliated with the United Methodist Church. 

For information on this church and its scheduled events and services, go to http://www.umc.org/find-a-church/church/151124.

The Greek revival style Ripton Community House was formerly the Ripton Congregational Church.  Built in 1864 as a Congregationalist Church, it has since served at a community clubhouse and town-owned meeting hall.

The scenery along our route wasn’t too hard to take!  It was a nice drive…

Suddenly, we came to this flock of yellow frame buildings along VT Hwy. 125.  This is the unincorporated community of Bread Loaf.  This little town is on the western flank of Bread Loaf Mountain.  In reality, Bread Loaf is part of Middlebury College.

The College’s School of English is actually located here on this 1,800 acre mountain campus 12 miles east of Middlebury.  Remember Joseph Battell from my former posts?  Between 1860 and 1910, he had purchased vast amounts of land.  He left 31,000 acres to Middlebury College when he died in 1915.  The College sold most of the land to form the core of the Green Mountain National Forest but it did retain the mountain campus and the rustic summer resort that Battell had developed.   

The Middlebury Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference is held at the Bread Loaf Inn every summer.  The New Yorker Magazine has referred to the conference as “the oldest and most prestigious writers’ conference in the USA.  It’s a program of Middlebury College and at its beginning it was closely associated with poet Robert Frost who attended 29 sessions.

I didn’t know it but the Robert Frost Farm is also located near Ripton and Bread Loaf Vermont.  This 150 acre farm right off VT Hwy. 125 is where Frost lived and wrote in the summer and fall months from 1939 until his death in 1963.  This Middlebury College property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and it’s open to the public.  To learn more, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost_Farm_(Ripton,_Vermont). 

This is one view of the inside of the Bread Loaf Inn.  Initial construction of the Inn took place in 1861 and it was expanded using the Second Empire style.  We happened to arrive in Bread Loaf during a conference or class sessions so there were lots of people around. 

The Bread Loaf School of English was established in 1920.  It’s the graduate school of English at Middlebury College.  The school offers courses in literature, creative writing, the teaching of writing and theater.  About 95 students graduate each year. 

To learn more about the school and happenings at Breadloaf, go to http://www.middlebury.edu/student-life/annual-events/orientation/family/stay/Breadloaf.

The Breadloaf Campus consists of about 2 dozen buildings that serve as dormitories, classrooms and social space.  Another 7 cottages are located nearby.  The campus is known for its mustard-colored buildings that date back to Battell’s rustic resort.  Newer buildings completed in the Colonial revival style since 1915 are painted white.

There is activity here in the winter as well.  In that season, the campus is home to Middlebury’s Rikert Nordic Ski Touring Center.  It offers experiences in cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the Green Mountains.  Miles of groomed cross country ski and snowshoe trails can be accessed.  Equipment can be rented on site.  For more information, go to http://www.middlebury.edu/about/facilities/rikert/node/158871. 

I couldn’t find out much about the Old Hancock Hotel in the tiny town of Hancock Vermont. (Population ca. 320) This is one of the many towns in the USA named after John Hancock.  The town’s growth peaked at 472 in 1830.  The hotel did have signs up advertising an all you can eat Sunday brunch…as well as another offering breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Hancock is located at the intersection of VT Hwy. 125 and VT Hwy. 100.

One more scenery photo taken from the car as we moved on south along VT Hwy. 100… Low mountains lined both sides of the roadway.

Note:

·       One side of the Green Mountains feeds the Connecticut River but the other side, via Otter Creek and Lake Champlain eventually feeds into Canada’s St. Lawrence River.

This business, "The Hardware Store" in Rochester Vermont, was founded ca. 1890.  At that time it was called Campbell and Martin.  In 1919, the company was the largest plumbing and heating business in the area.  Over time, furniture and household goods were added.  A funeral parlor, tin shop, town offices, the Post Office, a meat market, barber shop, apartments and more have occupied space in this building over the years.  The Campbell family owned this building and its businesses until 1961.   

The Huntington House Inn in Rochester Vermont was originally built in 1806 as the home and offices of a doctor.  Actually, 4 generations of the same family provided medical services here from 1806 through 1964. 

The Inn was totally renovated in 2003.  It now operates as a bed and breakfast.  The second photo shows the building next door to the Huntington House Inn.  The Top of the Park House was a General Store during the early 1860s.  It was renovated in 2006 and it’s operated as an extension of the Huntington House.   Rooms and suites for these properties currently showed rates ranging from $129 to $299 a night.  To learn more, just go to http://www.huntingtonhouseinn.com/rooms.html.

I had a heck of a time learning anything about the history of this large old building.  I eventually discovered (via a 1915 postcard) that at one time it was called the Pierce residence.  A little more research revealed that the Pierce family has been quite prominent and active in the area since the late 1700s…

At some point in time, the former Pierce home at 16 Park Row was transformed into Parker’s Inn.  Today, it is The Park House of Shared Elder Residence.  For between $1,030 and $1,055 a month, retirees are provided with 3 meals a day, utilities and basic housekeeping.  Website: www.Parkhousevt.org. 

 

FYI, Rochester Vermont was chartered in 1781.  Its current population is about 1,120.

This is the 'Original General Store' in Pittsfield Vermont.  Another old general store…and another 100 year old plus store saved!  The building was about to be turned into apartments when a Wall Street trader bought the property, restored it to its original appearance and hired a manager to run the business.

Pittsfield is located along VT Hwy. 100 and it has a population of only about 540.  The town was first settled in 1786.  Pittsfield is known for its annual snowshoe race. 

As you can see, the store is one of those places that you just want to explore.  The front of the store is occupied by tables which makes sense as the deli is reported to account for more than half of the business.  Breakfast is the biggest contributor.  Note the ice box in the last photo.  When renovating the store, this striking 60+ year old McCray commercial ice box was saved.

Note:  

·       In August 2011, Pittsfield was isolated when Tropical Storm Irene destroyed parts of VT Hwy. 100.  Vehicles couldn’t travel in and out of the town for several weeks.

I don’t know anything about this house.  I did think that its design was a bit unusual.  It’s sort of a Dutch Victorian mix.  It is a handsome structure…

The town of Pittsfield was chartered in July of 1781…to about 130 people mostly from Massachusetts and Connecticut.  This is Pittsfield’s Town Office/Municipal Building and the Roger Clark Library.  The former Pittsfield Free Library originated in 1901 but it was operated out of homes of library board members and volunteers.  In 1973, it moved to a permanent home in the basement of the town office building.  This multi-use building originally was a schoolhouse. 

The Roger Clark Library was named after a local Army SP4 from Pittsfield who was killed in action during a battle with a Viet Cong battalion on July 10, 1967 near Dak To in Vietnam.

This is the Pittsfield Vermont Town Hall.  This is the traditional village meeting place and the location for all community activities.  I couldn’t determine when either the Municipal Building/Library or Town Hall were built.  From their appearance…there is little doubt that both are well in excess of 100 years old.

That’s it for now… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by and going on a drive with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave