Wilmot's First Town Meeting House: A Problem of Language

This marker is in a lot in Wilmot Center and marks the site of the first town hall built in 1844 by Daniel Upton for "$250 and the old meeting house" which stood within Bunker Hill Cemetery.

Across the road from this marker is another old lot with an old field stone foundation and bell. I'm unsure as to what the foundation and bell are from unless they are from the first or second town hall.

When a Connecticut Congregationalist such as myself hears the word "meeting house" she thinks of a Congregational meeting house — a church. When she hears "town house" she may think of a colonial tavern. But in New Hampshire the phrases "town house" and "meeting house" mean town hall. John thought I knew what they meant and I thought John knew what they meant. So we never understood each other for months when John tried to tell me the history of this town. Not at all. I couldn't understand why the meeting house had been used for town meetings. Had New Hampshire been a theocracy like Connecticut? Not that I had ever heard.

Thinking I was either crazy or dull-witted, John finally read a section of a Wilmot history book aloud to me so that I could figure out what was going on in old Wilmot. I suddenly began to understand that a meeting house is not necessarily a meeting house. I am now beginning to make sense of town history. Finally.

I'm taking nothing for granted now. Language in New Hampshire is more complicated than it is in Vermont. But I'm learning. Soon I'll know three vernaculars: Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire!

Wilmot, NH Set

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Pierce Block

Pierce-Barrows Block

(known simply as the Pierce Block)

This building will last well past fifty years because it is huge, occupied, ornate, stylish, and appeals to the people in the area. I wish I could open a book store here (this has been done, unsuccessfully, before). The building was built in 1885. Today it houses the Barton Pharmacy, an antique store owned by my friend Catherine, and a real estate business in the basement. It began its life as a drug store, so life has come full circle for this building. It as also once a huge general store, and has housed a dentist, a millinery, barber, The Orleans County Monitor (a newspaper no longer published) offices, a telephone office, and a “job-fitter.” Today the original soda fountain is busy every day and the Step Back Café, in the pharmacy, is doing a great business. A real estate company is open in the basement. The Nelson Block is on the left of this building. Route 5 is on the right. When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window.

Technorati Tags: Pierce Block, Barton, Vermont
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Nelson Block

I can’t find the date when this was built. But in 1909, a “gentleman’s clothing” store occupied it. Later, two different grocery stores occupied it. 1979: Sanel Auto Parts bought it, which forced The Gallery Restaurant out of the north end of the building. I don’t know whether this building will last another fifty years. It has the beautiful typical architecture of Vermont houses that I love, but can it survive commercialism? When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window.

Technorati Tags: Nelson Block, Barton, Vermont

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Pierce House

Pierce House, Water St.

One of the oldest remaining Barton buildings, the Pierce House was renovated in 1984 after being purchased by the Crystal Lake Falls Historical Association (that link goes to a MySpace account which for some reason CLFHA uses) and now houses its museum here. This house had been scheduled for demolition as part of a federal housing grand that Barton had received. It was built approximately in the 1820s. I feel fairly certain that the house is now safe from destruction.

When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window.

Technorati Tags: Barton, Vermont, Crystal Lake Falls Historical Association, Pierce House
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Sky Watch Friday: Fiske School

Fiske School today

In 1885, there were 11 school districts in Barton. Barton has a total area of 44.9 square miles (116.3 square km), of which 43.7 square miles (113.1 square km) is land and 1.3 square miles (3.3 square km) (2.81%) is water. Within four miles of my house I have been able to find two of these school districts and one of the school houses. Fiske School is still standing on Fiske Road and is now a private home.

Fiske School in 1918

"Floyd Marshall rides his bicycle around the yard in front of the Fiske School in 1918. Viva Potter taught about a dozen students from District 6 at the schoolhouse that year. One of the doors on the front was for boys and the other for girls; wood for the stove was stored in the space between. The addition at left was for the outhouses."

The cupola (I assume this is the original bell)

Only three inhabitants of a town were needed to petition a town for a new school district. And they did. The Fiske School was one such district. It merged with the Devereaux District in 1904. In 1924, this school received the “superior” ranking by the state board of education. The school was still in use in the early 1950s, when the Barton Town school district was overseeing only four remaining one room schoolhouses. In 1958 town voters merged the town district and the Barton Academy and Graded School district, which seems to have been the end of the Fiske School. I have not been able to learn why it was called Fiske School.

The original award from 1924 still hangs over the front door.

Sign outside on the road

A snowy bush behind the road sign

Fiske Road

This post fulfills one requirement of the Historical Buildings
assignment for the digital photography class I am auditing.

Thank you for visiting this rather long post.
To view other participants, click Sky Watch Friday
or Strolling Through Georgia.

References:
"Barton, Vermont." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Feb 2008, 14:14 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 1 Mar 2008 .
Young, Darlene. A History of Barton Vermont. Barton, Vermont: Crystal Lake Falls Historical Association, 1998.

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The Duquette Barn

This barn can be seen from my house. I took the photos early this morning at dawn. Unless renovated, this beautiful and historic barn may not survive the next ten years. The field to the right in the photo is where the photo below was taken. It is now a hayfield. You can see Barton Mountain in the background. No date on the photo below. The beaver meadows across the road are named Duquette Flats after the three brothers below. They worked the farm as three bachelor farmers when the beaver took over the hayfield. Photo below from A History of Barton Vermont by Darlene Young.

This is the second of my series of historical buildings in Barton, taken for my digital photography class. 

When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.

Technorati Tags: Duquette, Barton, Vermont, barn _/\_/\_

Governor Lee Emerson House

Emerson was the 69th governor of Vermont and served from 1952 - 1955. He lived in this house in Barton. It seems that some renovation work was being done when I was there. This is the first of five historic Barton buildings I will be photographing for the digital photography class I am auditing. When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.

Technorati Tags: Lee Emerson House, Barton, Vermont
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