Endeavor Team

The Shelburne History Project

Old Buildings

---

James Kinney House

By Anika

Do you want to know about a building that is one hundred and eighty-nine years old, and has three different names? You do, well if so, then the James Kinney House is your place! It was built on an acre of land in 1815. Later, it was the house on one hundred and forty-two acres of farmland, where the Shelburne Shopping Park is today. In the 1860's the Underground Railroad used the house as a secret station.

It has two stories and its basement is exposed. It has stretched bond brick siding. In front, it has a new stonewall that has no historical importance.

Over the years, the "Brick House, and shop has changed into the Nelson Newell House, then the Emerson Thorpe House, and now it is a store call Arabesque (Women's Clothing).

I hope you have learned a lot about the James Kinney House. Come visit the James Kinney House whenever you are in need for women's clothes. The clothes are new, but the house is old!

Tracy House

By Jeff

The Tracy House is an important structure to the history of Shelburne as well as to one of my classmates. Mac's ancestors were part of the Tracy family, who were the original owners of The Tracy House.

The Tracy House was built in 1878 of bricks from the old Methodist Church. Lee Tracy who spent thirty years as a purchasing agent for Burlington Woolen Mills built the house. Three Generations have lived in the Tracy House. It is said that Reverend Edgerton who designed the Methodist Church, also designed The Tracy House.

A Victorian House, The Tracy House has a center Gable roof shape maid of purple slate. It is three floors high with a front porch that has chamfered posts on pedestals.

The Tracy family home is now a public eatery for all to enjoy. I bet Mac's family would like to visit and see their ancestor's old house.

Dr. Langdon's House

By Thomas

Well over 100 years ago in Shelburne Vermont, if you were sick, the place to go would have been Dr. Henry Langdon's House. The Henry Langdon's House is a very interesting and ancient old house. You can tell Doctor Langdon's House is old and well built, because it looks like many people have used it for many years.

Henry Langdon's House has an L-shape; the wood siding is made of clapboard. It is a 1 ½ story building. The roof is gable shape. The windows and doors have molded trim with no special shapes. It rests on stone foundations and is made of slate.

Dr. Henry Langdon built this house on an acre of land. This land was part of the Newell Farm. The house was built in 1850. Dr. Langdon was a doctor in town for eight years, from 1848-1856. Next, Samuel Currier bought the house in 1856. He practiced for three years and then went into the army.

Dr. Langdon's House may be creaking with old age, but it is full of life and history. So come and see for yourself to believe!

The Village Pump House

By Nicky

If you want to go out to dinner, come to the center of Shelburne and eat at the Village Pump House Restaurant.

This old building was built in the 1800's and was built by a Mr. Bacon. He lived at #14 which was next door. Little is known about the early history of this house but it was changed to a restaurant in 1983. It is happily doing well in its new job.

The color of the building is tan and it has nine windows. At the top of the building there is a pretty circular window. It has an enclosed porch where you can eat and watch Shelburne go by. The wood siding is flush board. The windows are called one over one panes and it use to have a 12 paned front door.

If you are in the center of Shelburne and you are hungry come eat at the Pump House with its old history and good food.

John Simonds House

By James

Do you need something like candy, a towel, or even a box of tissues? Then come to the John Simonds General Store.

This was a general store when it first opened in 1851. The building was managed by John Simonds who owned the property. It is 151 years old. For its first 125 years this was the biggest general store in the town of Shelburne.

The store is rectangular and it is two stories high with a flat roof. The siding is board and batten with bricks on the front. The roof is plain parapet style with lintel windows.

Now you can see the store is still a store that sells antiques and makes history come to life. So folks you can still come to shop but don't expect to see Mr. Simonds.

Collamer House

By Madeline

This wonderful house is the second oldest house still standing in Shelburne. It was built along the river on Benjamin Harrington's land. Benjamin died in 1810 and left his house to his daughter Sally. She sold the land for $150.00. For the next ninety-four years the house was sold to many different people.

In 1909 the lot was divided into quarter acres. The property was sold to Electra Webb on September 5, 1947. She wanted to move it to the Shelburne Museum but the neighbors persuaded her not to move it.

The house was fixed up and Lewis Wiggans, the first director of the museum, was the new resident. Electra left the house to her son. It was next purchased by Gwen Webster and Robert Owens in 1992. They are happily living there still.

The house's footprint is rectangular. It has two stories and the basement is exposed. The siding is clapboard and the basement is constructed of squared rubble stone. The roof shape is gable and the trim is boxed cornice with returns. The window and door structures are flat but there is a shelf or entablature above the door.

You can plainly see that this important house has an interesting history and design. When you drive passed the Collamer House you will now know everything about it.

Joshua Reed House

By Susan

If you want to hear about an old house, then you want to know about the Joshua Read House because it's the oldest house in Shelburne.

The Joshua Read House was built in 1785. In 1800 the first Methodist Sermon was delivered by Reverend Henry Ryan in Joshua Read's House.

The house is a two story building with one wing on the left side. The windows are white slip sill windows. The outside of the house is dark brown. There is a gable roof and clapboard siding. I am very surprised that a house that old is still standing.

Today, the Joshua Read House is a private resident home on Webster Road in Shelburne Vermont.

So now you know about the oldest house in Shelburne, but do you know about the other exciting buildings in Shelburne? If you want to know about other places then keep reading about them in this book.

David Ross House

By Jessie

The David Ross House was lifted up and moved 300 feet. But do we know why?

The David Ross House is 157 years old. It is one of the oldest houses in Shelburne, Vermont. The old house was built in 1845. Around 1920, it was moved 300 feet west.

The David Ross house is sometimes called the "David Ross place" or the "Alexander Hall place." The actual building is quite small. It has always been a residential home for families. One of my classmates lives in the David Ross House.

The structure of the house is in the shape of an "L". It has two wings on each side. The house is two stories high and the outside is covered with clapboards. The roof is a gable roof and has plain eaves. It has a plain door with a transom top and a lug sill.

The David Ross House is located on Harbor Road in Shelburne, Vermont. Some parts were added on the David Ross House over the years. When you are passing by or are in the area I hope you take a look!

The Grist Mill

By Leight

They used to make homemade bread in the early days of Shelburne but where did they get the flour to make it? They would bring their grain to the Shelburne Grist Mill.

The Shelburne Grist Mill was built in the 1800's. The LaPlatte River provided the waterpower to run the gristmill and also a sawmill that cut lumber. Farmers brought grain to the mill to be ground into flour. It took all day for the slowly turning stones to grind a small amount of grist. In 1904, when it was called the Robinson Grinding Mill, they put in new equipment so it could grind three to five thousand pounds of flour per hour. It only took ten to twenty minutes to grind the grist. All of this happened before they even had electricity in Shelburne.

The Grist Mill was a three-story building. The bottom half was made of stone and the top half was wooden clapboard. It had a gable roof and windows on the ends of the building, but not, on the sides. A large, turning paddle wheel was on the river-side of the gristmill. It was situated next to a solid stone dam near Shelburne Falls. The waterpower came from hundreds of small streams that came into the LaPlatte River.

The Grist Mill is no longer there because people buy flour in stores instead of grinding their own. If you want to see a mill that still works, go to the Shelburne Museum. They have a working sawmill that is cool.