USA > Vermont > Bennington County > Manchester > Manchester, Vermont : a pleasant land among the mountains, 1761-1961 > Part 14
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From at least 1912 until 1914 Buck's sawmill was located at the end of the road leading east from route 11-30 just south of the Bonny Peter Motel. It was first located upon the mountain off the Rootville Road, but moved down to where its timber resources were more available.
The Swezey Lumber Company has perhaps been in operation the longest of those connected with the lumber business. Its first mill was up on the Rootville Road beyond Prospect Rock at a location
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known as the Swezey Job. When this mill burned in June 1921, a novelty shop was started near the Swezey home on route 11-30. Bread boards, stools, smoking stands, and finally square clothes- pins were made. This mill was destroyed in October 1932.
About six years later, the old Bradley mill, which had been built in 1888 and 1889, was acquired and renovated for the manufacture of clothespins, railroad track shims, and dimension stock of various sorts. This mill burned in April 1943 and a new electrically oper- ated mill was erected on its site for the processing of hardwood timber. The mill is still operating as one of the most efficient of its type in the state.
Swezey also constructed an automatic charcoal plant for process- ing slab waste from the hardwood mill, but early one evening in May 1953 something went wrong with the automatic controls and the plant burned. It was not rebuilt. The hardwood slabs have since been disposed of at a processing plant near East Middlebury, and the chipped product is shipped from there to paper mills for pulp.
The N. D. Cass Company built a mill on the Rich Lumber Com- pany site in 1921 and operated it as a toy factory. It burned May 6, 1925. The Peterson Furniture and Novelty steam mill on Dufresne Pond was built in 1927 and is still in operation. It has produced brush backs as well as furniture.
In 1946 Fritz Dillmann and Wendy Hilty started a toy manufac- turing plant under the name of Toni Toys in the building near the railroad station that has been occupied by a number of industries. Another enterprise that operated a short time was the Hawley- Shroder woodworking shop in the red mill building at Manchester Center now occupied by Shroder's radio and phonograph shop.
The Manchester Molding Company started business at the De- pot on the corner of the Richville road and route 11-30 in 1949. The plant first concentrated on plastics, but later turned to creating early Americana reproductions in wood, many of which have plas- tic linings. About sixteen persons are employed there at present.
One of the more recent small enterprises is the Manchester Woodcraft, which opened in the old Odd Fellows building at the Depot in April 1951. It erected a new plant on the Flat Road nearer the Center and moved in August 1957. Ferdinand Bongartz and Harold A. Wisell are partners in this business.
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Another natural resource which provided raw material for mill- ing was marble, though it seems probable that most of the marble worked in even the small early mills was secured in Dorset. A few quarries were opened in Manchester but were never worked exten- sively, as better quality stone could be secured elsewhere. Most of the marble mills were small, sawing stone with rather crude ma- chinery. The finished product was of small dimensions.
Lyman Way is said to have operated the first marble mill in Man- chester on property now owned by A. G. Hardy. It was later oper- ated in partnership with his sons, finally becoming "Way and Eg- gleston." Above it, on what is now Woolley property, was Cham- berlain's marble mill, which was later Ruleau's sawmill. Water for these mills was diverted by a dam still to be seen opposite the en- trance to the Art Center. The area at the upper end of the present Way's Lane was then called "Marbleville."
Beers' Atlas of 1869 shows five marble mills located between the bridge at the Center and the one lower down on the Flat Road. One of these mills near the tannery was fitted up as a machine shop in 1883. W. H. Fullerton built a marble and granite works at Manches- ter Depot about 1869. The building later became a movie theater, Odd Fellows Hall, and the site of various other enterprises. A Man- chester Journal of July 1880 noted that the outlook for the marble business appeared good; that W. H. Fullerton had doubled his help and had more orders than at any time in ten years. Fullerton fur- nished the stone and design for the soldiers' monument at Man- chester Village.
Elijah Collins, 1783-1860, had a marble mill on land later owned by H. D. Giddings near the Fair Grounds. John Wait had a marble mill on the West Branch of the Battenkill south of the north cross road between route 30 and U.S. Rte. 7. His quarries were up near Mount Equinox. He gave a portion of the land on which the "Dug- way" section of route 30 is located. Two marble mills operated by Gilman Wilson were once at Munson's Falls. There was also a mar- ble mill on the Battenkill at the foot of Union Street which was run by. the Hawleys. A sawmill was later located there and finally an electric light plant.
Perhaps the largest quarry opened in Manchester was on the Dyer farm now owned by the Wilcox Brothers, Inc. This quarry of
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a red variegated stone which is breccia and a blue marble deposit above it was opened and promoted by the Taconic Marble Com- pany, a New York concern of $1,000,000 capital incorporated in 1890.
The Taconic Marble Company advertised the finest variegated and blue marble in the world. Its prospectus, written by a geology professor, J. S. Newberry of Columbia College, stated that in quan- tity the marble was inexhaustible.
In quality both the red and blue varieties are without rivals so far as is known in the country. The red is unlike any known in this country or in the old world.
The professor may have been a good geologist, but there were technical problems concerned with working the red variegated marble so pronounced that so far as it is known, it was used for only one large job-an estate down on the Hudson River. The quarry was then abandoned and the bondholders quit cutting coupons.
The largest marble mill in Manchester was the property of Nor- cross and West of South Dorset. It was located at Manchester De- pot near the junction of route 11-30 and the Richville road and was built in 1902. It came under the control of the Vermont Marble Company in 1913 and after some intermittent operation by that company was demolished in 1932.
Limestone of lesser quality than marble was burned for lime, which was used for mortar and for the treatment of hides in the tanning process. Kilns for burning limestone were located at various places where stone of suitable quality was easily quarried. There were two locations on the Hanley farm on the Barnumville Road down the slope toward the river. Another was on Dr. Edwin K. Treat's property, where broken stone can still be seen on the bank above the highway. Other kilns were at the foot of Mount Equinox west of the Center reservoir, on Purdy Hill near U.S. Rte. 7, and on the north road in Barnumville.
Glass water pipe is said to have been manufactured in Barnum- ville, but no one seems to know where. Some of the pipe has been dug up and samples are available. McNaughton and Lawrence had charcoal kilns at Barnumville in 1872 as well as Barnum and Rich- ardson. Brickyards were located at the Depot west of the Richville
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road crossing near the present section car house, and east of U.S. Rte. 7 at the foot of Purdy Hill.
While it never assumed such proportions as to be regarded as an industry, iron mining was carried on to some extent. In 1887 a Clove Springs Iron Company mined ore on lands on the Green Mountains owned by Pettibone Brothers, Burritt Brothers, and M. G. Walker & Son. Five men were employed in October 1887 sink- ing shafts from two openings. Quartz sand and kaolin were also found in the area. Iron was also mined in the Lye Brook ravine by Gilbert Bradley. The foundry at Manchester Center used scrap iron rather than ore.
Use of the products of agriculture brought about industrial de- velopment, particularly at Manchester Center. After the death of Timothy Mead, his distillery, sawmill, gristmill, and fulling mill were purchased by Myron Clark, who moved in from Rupert. He rebuilt the gristmill in 1840. His son, Augustus G. Clark, became associated with him and built a large tannery on the south bank of the stream. Part of the tannery is now used for storage by Man- chester Motors, Inc., with tenements on the upper floor. Clark also built several houses in which employees lived. After his death in 1879 his interests were taken over and managed by his sons-in-law, Mason S. Colburn and John H. Whipple.
The building now occupied by Bourn's Garage was originally built by J. W. Harris & Jennings as an extensive carding and full- ing mill. Blankets and other woolen goods were made in the 1820s. In the 186os other machinery was added and a knitting department established. Opposite that mill on the north bank of the stream was another small tannery on the site of Toomey's Garage.
The Battenkill Butter and Cheese factory was operated at Fac- tory Point in 1876 by Hollister & King. The factory again opened April 24, 1884 with Frank Rowe as cheese maker. On June 12 it was making eighteen cheeses a day. It closed in November, reopen- ing May 4, 1885, which shows it was a summer business. The dairies which supplied the milk probably operated only in the summer also.
A mill manufacturing hosiery was operated at Factory Point in 1878 by O. C. Waterhouse and I. H. Dench. A Manchester Journal for January 21, 1885 notes that W. L. Billings was manufacturing a large number of Moore Spring Beds, which were having good sales.
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There were a number of items of local manufacture, the produc- tion of which could hardly be termed "industries." However, they were necessary in the years when small communities had to be more nearly self-supporting than is the case now. Tin, sheet iron, and copper utensils were manufactured by Young & Denio at Fac- tory Point in 1871, by C. F. Swett in Manchester in 1871, and by A. J. Davis at Manchester Depot in 1904. Buggies, carriages, and wagons were manufactured by H. K. Waterhouse at Factory Point in 1866 and by C. O. Bentley at Manchester Center in 1893. M. Cloney advertised as a manufacturer of Men's, Boys', and Children's Clothing at Factory Point in 1871. About the same time, a Factory Point Boot and Shoe Manufactory existed. In 1874 the Drencher Coffee Pot Company was in operation at Factory Point.
In the late 1890s, the Woods Specialty Company had an estab- lishment south of the foot of Union Street where a unique cast steel tool known as the ""Handy Andy" was manufactured. It was a com- bination of hammer, pinch bar, screw driver, nine-inch measure, nail puller, and pipe wrench. The company also manufactured a combination nail puller-hammer.
An enterprise that operated a short time was the Green Moun- tain Mushroom Company in Richville. In the fall of 1946 a new plant of U. S. Plastics, Inc., started operations in Richville near the Rich Lumber Company property. It was not successful long nor was a chemical concern, known as the Marvel Laboratories, located on the Bradley mill property.
A specialized business different from anything previously known in Manchester was the Wailiilii Angora Rabbit Farm, which was established in June 1939 by Clara May Hemenway. During the twelve years of operation the herd grew from fifteen to 400 and breeding stock were shipped to nearly every state in the Union as well as to foreign lands.
A look at Manchester Village today, the focal point of the town's summer recreational business with its fine residences, beautiful main street, and golf courses, reveals nothing of the time when several industries and businesses existed there. As they declined or moved away, zoning regulations designed to keep the community a first-class residential and hotel area have prevented the establish- ment of new commercial enterprises. Consequently the Orvis Com-
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pany of fishing tackle fame, in business for over 100 years, is the only surviving manufacturing concern. This may be because its product is so closely allied to the recreation field.
The Orvis Company manufactures fishing rods, flies, and other fishing equipment in a shop located on Union Street. These, along with a general line of outdoor sports goods, are attractively dis- played in a recently erected showroom on U.S. Rte. 7. The busi- ness was established in 1856 by Charles F. Orvis after a friend bor- rowed a fish rod he had made and liked it. Others also used and liked that type of rod until a sufficient demand arose to warrant a small shop for their production.
Orvis first carried on the business in a house (now gone) south of the Orvis Inn and later in the brick building which is now the quar- ters of the Johnny Appleseed Bookshop. The fly room was on the second floor, while the first floor was used as a store for sporting goods and for a post office during the latter part of his second term as postmaster.
C. F. Orvis was assisted in the business by his two sons, Robert J. and Albert C., and by his daughter, Mary Ellen Marbury. The manufacture of artificial flies became a specialty of the company in 1870. The Orvis book, Fishing with the Fly, was published in 1883. It contained 300 pages and 149 colored illustrations of salmon, trout, and bass flies. Orvis also invented the minnow trap.
In 1940 the business was incorporated as the Charles F. Orvis Company with D. Clark Corkran, formerly of Baltimore, as presi- dent. Wesley Jordan, an expert on rod manufacturing, joined the firm at the time.
A few other small industries have been located at the Village. On the west side of the lower Valley Road below "The Cascades" was a small mill built about 1848 by Martin Vanderlip and later owned by Franklin H. Orvis. Further upstream on the same brook was a tannery built by Alvin Merriman in 1838 and run by Merriman and Van Note. Further north was a stone sawing mill owned by Horatio Walker and run by William Furniss.
A Purdy gristmill was located on Tanner Brook west of U.S. Rte. 7 on Purdy Hill. About 1871 a Mr. Brownson operated a glove factory employing some twenty women and girls. It is believed that the company occupied a room in the Court House. Successor firms
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Rich Lumber Company yard showing homes at Richville.
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Lyman Way's marble mill on Way's Lane. In 1849 he took his sons into partnership; about 1860 it became "Way and Eggleston." In the early 1870s, Dexter Pierce manu- factured wooden articles here. This rare picture shows an excellent example of an early mill.
Norcross-West marble mill and yard, 1902-1932. Only some slabs of marble remain where this mill, the largest in Manchester, was located.
Iron mine on Lye Brook, 1886-1887.
MANCHESTER HOSIERY FACTORY POINT. Vermont. O. C. WATERHOUSE & CO.
MILLS.
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Estabrook's Opera House
Has a seating capacity of 500 persons. Stage 20 x 38 feet is supplied with scenery, &c. Situated at Factory Point, Vermont, the best show village in Bennington County, the center of trade and Railroad Station for five towns. On Bennington and Rutland Railroad. Rutland 30 miles, Troy N. Y., 50 miles. Rental $15 00 per night, or will share with any good company. ADDRESS,
E. ESTABROOK, Box 9, Factory Point, Vt., BILL POSTER AND MANAGER OF OPERA HOUSE,
Above, left: James W. Marsh, M.D. (1839-1925), eclectic phy- sician. Above, right: Claude M. Campbell, M.D. (1873-1950), highly esteemed physician who practiced in Manchester for thirty-five years. Left: Edmond L. Wyman, M.D. (1843-1934), homeopathic physician. He was an outstanding layman of Zion Episcopal church. This picture was taken in 1923.
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in 1874 and 1876 were in the Music Hall on Union Street. A busi- ness card is extant of Swift & Eggleston, manufacturers of fishing rods in the Village, but there is no data available as to when this business was in operation.
The Equinox Company, owner of the hotel and golf links, also had a bottling works for a number of years in a building west of the Equinox House. Not only was Equinox Spring Water sold as such, but it was also used as a base for effervescent soft drinks. That busi- ness was abandoned about 1920. At one time the company also shipped large quantities of sausage.
The town of Manchester, at various times over a fifty-year period, has offered some form of tax exemption as an inducement to bring industries to town. Up to 1921 the exemptions voted were for ten years with no specifications as to the number of employees. In 1921 the exemption voted was for five years for a plant employing less than fifteen persons. In 1939 it was voted to exempt any industry employing ten people which located within two years from March 1, 1939. A 1950 vote was to exempt from taxation for a period of five years all manufacturers making an investment of $15,000 if put into operation within the calendar years of 1950, 1951, and 1952. So far the tax exemption program has not produced any permanent results.
Money has also been appropriated for promoting the recreational assets of the community. This represents an industry of a different type and one that has contributed much to the prosperity of the town. In 1935 $800 was appropriated for the construction of ski trails and in 1937 $2,000 was voted for the promotion of the winter sports business. In 1941 and 1942 the town voted $1,500 for adver- tising and in 1943, $500. In 1947 $3,000 was voted to be expended in conjunction with some other agency for promoting the interests of Manchester as a summer and winter resort. Such appropriations were voted down in 1948, 1951, 1952, 1956, and 1957. The town voted $1,500 to the Chamber of Commerce for promotional pur- poses in 1958, 1959, and 1960.
The actual results secured from these expenditures may be diffi- cult to appraise, but such appropriations indicate an awareness of the community's opportunity for growth in recreational develop- ment and a faith that such growth can be fostered by judicious ad-
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vertising. These expenditures represent an attempt to capitalize on that most valuable asset already mentioned, climate and scenic charm.
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CHAPTER XVI
Banks
B Y 1832 business in and around Manchester had developed to a point where services of a bank could be supported, and the First Bank of Manchester was chartered with a capital of $100,000 on November 7, 1832. This bank operated until January 1, 1848 and was first located in a room of the house where its cashier, Bernice Raymond, lived. This was on the west side of U.S. Rte. 7 on what is now Frelinghuysen property.
The directors were Sylvester Deming, Josiah Burton, Milton Brown, Nathan Burton, Major Hawley, M. C. Deming, and Myron Clark. Sylvester Deming was president and Reuben Blackmer clerk. Myron Clark was cashier from November 1835 to February 1840. He was succeeded by W. P. Black, who served until January 1848. Myron Clark was president from April 1841 to February 1844, when he was succeeded by Milton Brown, who served until the bank closed in 1848.
The bank at that time was located in the brick building now occupied by the Johnny Appleseed Bookshop. It was permitted to use the premises in order to close its affairs until the second Tues- day of January 1849.
Occupying the same quarters was Manchester's second bank, the Battenkill Bank, which served the community from 1848 to 1865. Major Hawley was the president. During the night of Monday, September 30, 1850 the bank was robbed of $5,600, half of which was in specie. A reward of $500 was offered for the apprehension of the robber, who was eventually caught in Massachusetts and re- turned to Manchester for trial.
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Officers of the Battenkill Bank in 1865 when it went out of busi- ness were: Major Hawley, president; William P. Black, cashier; Daniel Roberts, Jr., clerk. The directors were Major Hawley, Josiah Burton, Daniel Roberts, Jr., A. L. Miner, Darwin Andrew, Martin C. Deming, and Milton Brown.
On July 26, 1865 a successor bank, the Battenkill National Bank, was authorized to begin business by the Comptroller of the Cur- rency and it served the community until 1884. William P. Black was the cashier, succeeded by William A. Black in 1883. The direc- tors of this bank were Major Hawley, E. B. Burton, A. J. Gray, H. Wickham, Samuel K. West, Norman Bottom, and Henry B. Kent.
Another national bank located in the village of Factory Point was organized August 22, 1883 as the Factory Point National Bank, which still serves the community. Its capital was $50,000, and twenty-nine stockholders signed the articles of association Septem- ber 20, 1883. The directors chosen then were Allen P. Graves, Robert Ames, Mason S. Colburn, D. S. Wilson, William Root, George W. Farwell, and Ira S. Weed. Officers elected September 27 were: Robert Ames, president; Allen Graves, vice-president; J. P. Black, cashier. Four of the directors were residents of Factory Point. Farwell was from Dorset; Root from East Rupert; and Weed from Pawlet.
This bank, under sound management, grew steadily as the econ- omy of the area developed. Its total resources increased through various stages from $82,600.34 at the time of its founding to more than $5,000,000 in 1960. Its capital was increased to $75,000 in December 1885, only two years after its organization. By that time its commercial deposits had increased nearly $50,000, its total re- sources to more than $153,000, and it showed a small surplus of $325.00.
The total resources had passed the half million mark by 1929. A big step forward was taken in November 1950 with the opening of a savings department. That year commercial deposits exceeded $1,000,000, while total resources were more than $2,000,000. Ten years later savings deposits exceeded $1,500,000, which brought the total resources to more than $5,000,000. Also that year, a re- capitalization took place to $125,000 and a surplus of an equal amount.
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Since the flow of capital in a community is a reliable indicator of its economic growth, and since its banking facilities serve as a chan- nel for that flow, the growth in banking resources, from one room in 1832 in the cashier's home to the modern bank with vaults, book- keeping machines, a staff of twelve, and resources of $5,000,000, is an accurate reflection of Manchester's economic growth.
A robbery occurred at the Factory Point National Bank in Sep- tember 1936. The bank suffered no loss by virtue of its insurance, and the robbers were eventually caught in connection with other depredations.
CHAPTER XVII
Manchester Merchants
M ERCHANTS are important in any community for they supply the material wants and needs of its inhabitants. Therefore, a listing of those whose names are available together with the types of merchandise they supplied may properly be a part of any town history. The following list, for the years 1866 to 1910, is probably incomplete, and the town surely had merchants in earlier years. However, there is no record of them comparable to that preserved in The Whipple Collection of historical documents from which this listing was taken. How many years these merchants were in business is not indicated, but they are listed in chronologi- cal order of the dates found on their letterheads and billheads :
1. H. K. Waterhouse. Manufacturer and Dealer in Buggies, Carriages, and Wagons. Factory Point. 1866.
2. Perkins and Utley. Furniture, Building Materials, etc. Manchester. 1866.
3. Bradley and Blackmer. Dealers in Dry Goods, Oil Cloths, Glass- ware, Hardware, Pork, Fish, etc. Factory Point. 1871.
4. Burton & Co. Dealers in Dry Goods and Groceries, Boots and Shoes, Hats and Caps, Hardware, Paints, Oils, etc. Factory Point. 1871.
5. Orvis & Co. Job Printers and Publishers. Publishers of the Man- chester Journal. Manchester. 1871.
6. C. F. Swett. Dealer in Stoves, Wooden, Glass, and Hollow Ware, Pumps, Lead Pipe, etc. Manchester. 1871.
7. Hubbard and Hopkins. Beef, Pork, Lard, Sausage, Tripe, Smoked Beef, Poultry. Manchester. 1871.
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8. M. Cloney. Men's, Boys', and Children's Clothing. Factory Point. 1871.
9. Young and Denio. Tin, Sheet Iron, and Copper Work. Factory Point. 1871.
10. Walker and Jameson. Lard, Sausage, Tripe, Smoked Beef. Fac- tory Point, 1871.
11. Vincent Grover. Apothecary. Drugs, Medicines, Fancy Articles. Factory Point. 187 ?.
12. Bradford, Sykes & Co. Stoves, Tin and Sheet Iron Ware. Factory Point. 1873.
13. L. D. Coy. Dealer, Boots, Shoes, Rubbers, Books, Stationery, and Jewelry. Manchester. 1873.
14. J. B. Hollister. Dealer in Vermont Italian Marble. Factory Point. 1874.
15. John C. Blackmer. Dealer in General Merchandise and Lumber. Manchester Depot. 1875.
16. Bonesteel and Burr. Dry Goods, Groceries and Flour, Hardware, Clothing, Paints, Oils, Notions. Factory Point. 1876.
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