USA > Vermont > Bennington County > Manchester > Manchester, Vermont : a pleasant land among the mountains, 1761-1961 > Part 17
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CHAPTER XXI
Recreational Activities
T HE 1939 Town Report carried a cover advertising Manches- ter as "The Oldest Recreational Center in New England." As early as 1830, balls or "convivial assemblies" were held in Manchester hotels and by 1849 local people were on the commit- tees of arrangements for New Year's and Thanksgiving balls at the West River, Warner's, and the Green Mountain Hotels in London- derry, Landgrove, and Winhall. Because of poor transportation, these affairs began in the late afternoon and ended in the early evening.
Most of the Village entertainments, prior to construction of the Equinox House Music Hall in 1868, were held in the Court House. The Music Hall, built and handsomely furnished at an expense of $16,000, provided an excellent place for most of the dances, annual receptions, and parties. One, a Grand Masquerade Ball in 1872, required seventy-six men on the committee of arrangements and twelve, headed by Charles F. Orvis, on the committee of introduc- tions. Over 1,000 invitations were issued and over 125 couples came to the ball. A costumer from Albany was on hand as well as Dor- ing's Quadrille Band from Troy. The supper, served by Manchester ladies, was supervised by the Equinox House steward, N. H. Perkins.
Some of the other groups providing music for these affairs were the Equinox Parlor Orchestra, the Y.M.C.A. Orchestra of Benning- ton, and Wells Quadrille Band of Rutland. Proceeds were generally "Devoted to a Benevolent Object."
Burr and Burton Seminary junior proms and many amateur
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theatricals were customarily held at the Music Hall. Many of the latter were performed by a group called the "Equinox Crowd" which numbered among its members, Charles Sumner Robinson, Molly Prentice (Porter), Grace and Frances Hoyt, Herbert Kelcey, Effie Shannon, and Elsie Wolfe. In addition to its fine stage, the Music Hall had a bowling alley in the basement.
In August 1877 "the musicians and singers of Manchester, .. . after weeks of patient preparation" presented "Esther: A Sacred Cantata" with Mrs. D. K. Simonds, pianist. Other entertainments included stereopticon shows, shadow pantomimes, humorous and dramatic recitals, variety shows, and tableaux such as "Red Riding Hood" and "Bluebeard and His Wives." In 1882 the Factory Point Dramatic Company presented "The Gun Maker of Moscow" and "The Stage Struck Yankee" with the aid of Whitcomb's String Band from Cambridge, New York.
Estabrook's Opera House at Factory Point, now the bank block, served a similar purpose for that part of town. It was opened in May 1884. Besides being a boarding establishment with a dining room or confectionary, Estabrook's offered a roller skating rink on the upper floor. Patrons were invited to use "The Best Floor in the State"-two hours for ten cents. The "Burgess Livery" carried parties of eight or more from the Village to the rink. There was al- ways "live" music-the Farmer's Cornet Band, Bowen's Rink Band, or Weeks' Band from Pawlet. Fancy skating exhibitions were performed by Professor L. H. Bean and Miss Lula Wells.
The Opera House was also used for dances and theatricals. About 1887 the Boston Opera Company performed. Later, Josh Billings, a "serio-comic lecturer," gave monologues-"The Flea, A Brisk Package" and "The First Baby, Too Sweet for Anything."
Probably the best thing about Estabrook's was the dining room, which offered exotic foods out of season-figs, peaches, sweet potatoes, ice cream, strawberries, and oysters "received direct from their Fair Haven beds."
Estabrook's burned in 1893 and was rebuilt as the Union Opera House in 1896. The first event was a Thanksgiving ball. An untold number of community programs and benefits have been given there including the popular Union Club minstrels given annually about the time of World War I and such Eastern Star ventures as "Last
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The Mark Skinner Library, given in memory of her father by Mrs. Frances Skinner Willing.
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The Manchester Fair (looking south from the present location of the Rod and Gun Club), circa 1880.
"Hildene," residence of the Hon. Robert Todd Lincoln. The estate is now the home of his granddaughter, Miss Mary Lincoln Beckwith.
VANDERLIPS HOTEL.
NANDERLIP'S HOTEL
MANCHESTER VERMONT
Above: Vanderlip's Hotel, Manchester Village, circa 1850. As the "Taconic" it was later merged with the Equinox House. Left: Equi- nox House as it appeared be- fore being merged with the Taconic Hotel to make the hotel as we know it today.
"Tip-Top House" was situated on the "Lookout" or "North Point" of Mount Equinox and was reached by a carriage road from the Sandgate notch along the top of the ridge. It was operated by Peter Bowman. The high point in the rear was occupied by the United States Government Signal Station in the 1870s.
First clubhouse of the Ekwanok Country Club. It was erected in the summer of 1900 and burned October 25, 1938.
Present clubhouse of the Ekwanok Country Club.
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CHUNGH
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The first "official" Manchester Band (1861), Russel P. Hoyt, director. This photo- graph was taken on the Village green in front of the old brick Congregational church.
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ESTER
DEPOT
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Manchester Depot Drum Corps, circa 1890. (Seated left to right) William Pettibone, Charles Curtis, Ned Pettibone, Heman Dyer, and Myron Pettibone; (standing left to right) Waldo Williams, William Hicks, Clarence Curtis, James Bourne, Watson Curtis, Charles Bourne, and Albert Hicks.
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Day of the Deestrick Skule" which featured Walter Hard as "Heze- kiah Pendergrass," the teacher. Other programs in those earlier years were held in Adams Hall or the Colburn House Hall at Fac- tory Point.
Much entertainment was furnished by traveling "artists" such as the "Satsuma Japanese Troupe" (1871) with its "own double-poled tent"; "The Four Celebrated Elephants, Anthony and Cleopatra and Victoria and Albert" (1861); and Madigan's "Beautiful School of the Gymnase," which gave "classic and refined illustrations of muscular energy." In 1924 the Board of Trade sponsored outside entertainment in a series called the "Lyceum Course."
The Colonial Theater at the Depot opened in June 1919 in what was formerly the store of J. C. Blackmer. By 1925 movies had be- come extremely popular. It cost fifteen cents to see Betty Blythe in "Chu Chin Chow-A Tale of an Arabian Robin Hood amid the Splendors of Old Bagdad" plus a good "two reel comedy." The Arcade opened in the Village. It later became the Playhouse and has survived a number of openings and closings. The Modern Theater at the Depot opened July 1935. It later became the Com- munity Theater, which closed in May 1955 after a disastrous fire. A drive-in theater was built in Manchester in 1955 and is open only part of the year.
Manchester's interest in her aging citizens began as early as 1871, when it counted 614 out of the 1,909 population as being over sixty years old. Probably the nicest manifestation of that interest were the "Old Folks' Parties," which were given over a fifteen-year pe- riod at the turn of the century. The first was given by J. E. Mc- Naughton of Barnumville at his home on November 8, 1890 with a dinner attended by 110 people, aged seventy or more. The eldest guests were Mrs. Eliza Mears, 94, and Dr. Joseph D. Wickham, 93.
Another reception and dinner was held September 24, 1897 at the Music Hall by Franklin H. Orvis. The party lasted all day with the old folks "visiting," dancing, singing songs, and having their pictures taken. Regret was expressed that Stiles McMullen, 103, was not present. He had promised to stay for the affair, but "having received a purse of money from Mr. Orvis and the guests of the Equinox House and being elated with his good fortune, he felt com- pelled to go to his home in St. Alban's to exploit his good luck." The last recorded old folks' party was held in 1904.
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Organized sports began in Manchester as early as 1884, when a skating club of fifteen young men organized at a rink on the second floor of C. F. Swett's tinshop. Basketball, now the town's first rank- ing indoor winter sport, had its first big season in 1929 and 1930. Credited with stimulating the organization of fifteen teams were R. P. Robert, Seminary coach; Roger B. Hurley, organizer of a young men's gym class; and F. B. Rich, a grammar school coach.
The first southwestern Vermont amateur basketball tournament was sponsored by the Rotary Club in March 1938 in Manchester. This was held in the Seminary gymnasium, where the first local schoolboy basketball game had been played in 1914. Regularly scheduled games played by Burr and Burton Seminary with high school teams from neighboring communities are now largely at- tended throughout the winter. Appropriately enough, the first event held in the gymnasium of the new Manchester Elementary School in 1951 was a basketball jamboree sponsored by the town team.
Voting on whether or not to allow certain recreations on the Sabbath first came up in 1939. The town allows basketball and base- ball after 2:00 p.m. and concerts, lectures, and movies after 6:00 p.m. Motor racing on Sundays has not been allowed since it was voted down in 1951.
The first discussion of a community swimming pool to fill recrea- tion needs and to provide employment for the town's jobless was in 1939. The first plan was to build a small pool in the West Branch of the Battenkill and in 1930 the Selectmen were authorized to borrow money to accomplish this as a W.P.A. project. The plan was re- scinded, however, and the Manchester Rotary Club, casting around for a project of real community worth, took over the idea. Robert C. Brewster was chairman of the committee. Land was purchased of H. J. Dyer at the Center near the Grange Hall and an anonymous donor gave funds for the pool. Construction began in May 1941, the pool being supplied with water from the West Branch. Total cost of the pool and bathhouses was $15,000. Maintenance and manage- ment have been continued through the years by the Rotary Club largely through money made at an annual carnival. The pool was opened and dedicated August 12, 1941 with an address by Senator Walter Hard, music by the Manchester Band, and various swim-
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ming and diving contests. Free American Red Cross swimming and life saving instruction is given annually for the children of Man- chester and surrounding towns.
Among other recreational pursuits in Manchester have been: dancing, art, and riding schools; adult discussion and improvement groups; antiques and crafts fairs; organized baseball for every age group; and gym classes. One of the most important national motor sports events-the races of the Sports Car Club of America-has been held in Manchester annually since May 1950 on the Skyline Drive to Mount Equinox.
In the past ten years the town has made several giant-sized efforts to maintain a community recreation program for adults and children. The first, which received immediate co-operation from the citizens, was in 1952. Following several preliminary meetings, some with state experts, a headquarters was outfitted on the lower floor of the new elementary school. The program included such features as round and square dancing and an adult chorus. But in October 1953 the recreation center and program were reorganized to accommodate only teen-agers. In 1954 a board of directors of young adult age supervised the center assisted by a board of gover- nors selected from grades six through twelve.
The Selectmen at that time appointed a Board of Public Recrea- tion to develop a long-range program for the town and to work in co-operation with the recreation center. In 1957 the evening recrea- tion center was reopened under paid adult supervision after having been closed several years due to a lack of interested chaperones. When the elementary school rooms became needed for other pur- poses in 1958, the Board of Public Recreation leased rooms in the I.O.O.F. Hall at Manchester Depot. In 1956 the Board began an eight weeks' morning summer playground program which has in- cluded, in addition to regular playground games, instruction in golf and organized baseball.
§ Hunting and Fishing
As early as 1900 Manchester was advertised as having fine trout fishing in all of its streams, especially in the Battenkill. In previous years, before fishing season began on the last Saturday in April, the
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first morning of fishing season was a traditional holiday for Burr and Burton Seminary students. Now, younger children turn out for the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars Fishing Derby. In 1958 the Dufresne Dam project, constructed by the state at Manchester De- pot, was opened as an excellent fishing area. The Battenkill and Dufresne Pond are well stocked with brown, rainbow, and brook trout while Equinox Pond, a private preserve open to guests of the Equinox House only, is stocked with rainbow trout. All this avail- ability, together with the Orvis Company making Grade A fishing equipment right in town, makes Manchester a mecca for fishermen.
Approximately 1,500 hunting and/or fishing licenses of all types are sold by the town clerk annually. About one half of these are non-resident.
About 1860 a herd of Virginia red deer was turned loose in Ver- mont. Though for a while they were totally protected, annihilation followed and by 1875 there were no wild deer in this section of Vermont and none in the state except for Essex County. M. J. Hap- good of Peru was an influence in the movement to reintroduce deer into Vermont.
In Manchester a group of sportsmen interested in game protec- tion and propagation and led by Colonel Mason S. Colburn, raised money for the purpose of placing some deer on the east mountain. Four deer were purchased, but by the time the animals reached the Depot on May 9, 1877, one had died. The two remaining does and a buck were taken to the Pettibone place south of the Depot, where a great number of people came to view them. The next morn- ing the deer in their crates were loaded onto two bobsleds drawn by two pair of horses and the trip to Bourn Pond on top of east moun- tain began. It was made via the Lye Brook Hollow road and a short distance this side of the pond a snowdrift fully eighteen inches deep was encountered. The party, consisting of Myron Taylor, George Swift, Henry Bundy, Hiram Eggleston, Leonard Pettibone, and James Smith, reached the destination about noon and proceeded to release the animals.
The two younger deer immediately disappeared into the forest but the old doe, which was quite tame, stayed nearby while the party lunched. A few days later, the doe appeared near the Petti- bone home in the valley, where the family was able to get close
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enough to feed her. Later she returned with two fawns, the first seen by many people in this section.
About this time deer were released in Bennington, Danby, and Rutland, thus establishing the foundation of deer in Vermont which today number thousands. Other states around Vermont owe their supply to the herds introduced here. In those days, perhaps more than now, some people could see no good in such animals and numerous were the stories of gardens destroyed by those first deer.
Until 1896 deer were protected and today's sportsmen are en- joying the benefits of that far-sighted policy. An entry in the diary of Eber Taylor of Manchester Depot, November 8, 1908 says suc- cinctly-"Deerhunters all over the mountains." The same can be said in 1960 during the sixteen-day deer season which begins the second Saturday in November. Many are the Manchester men, as well as visitors to town, who "close up shop" to hunt. Deer, in fact, are so plentiful in the area that a popular evening's diversion is to ride around the outskirts of Manchester and view the animals grazing.
At first only bucks could be killed. In the years 1909, 1915, 1919, and 1920 an open season (the last whole week in October) allowed licensed hunters to kill either buck or doe. Now only buck may be taken. A ten-day hunting season in October allows the use of bow and arrow for taking deer. In the fall of 1939 Manchester was made one of the nine Vermont deer weighing stations by the Fish and Game Service to obtain valuable data on the deer situation in vari- ous counties.
Manchester also provides hunting for rabbits, squirrel, beaver, and bear in the proper legal seasons.
§ The Manchester Fair
A TRADITIONAL recreation in Manchester, once a vivid and vital part of the community, has been the Manchester Fair. It was pre- ceded in the early nineteenth century by county fairs in the various towns which were sponsored by the Bennington County Agricul- tural Society.
The first meeting "to see what action should be taken toward a
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town fair"1 was held by interested Manchester men at the Court House September 6, 1878. Ralph Purdy was moderator and Eber Taylor, John Pettibone, and Elias B. Thompson were appointed to solicit funds.
During its earliest years, the fair was known as the "Farmers' and Mechanics' Fair" but at a later meeting held in Adams Hall, Fac- tory Point, D. K. Simonds changed the name to the Battenkill Val- ley Industrial Society. The fair was the "annual meeting" of the group. It was soon acknowledged by the entire area to be "the most successful of any [fairs] held in southern Vermont."2
Egbert B. Smith was elected the first president in 1879, an office he held until his retirement in 1907. W. H. Beebe was vice-president; D. K. Simonds, secretary; and George Burton, treasurer. The So- ciety was also run by a board of directors from Rupert, Dorset, Peru, Landgrove, Winhall, Sunderland, Sandgate, and Manchester. Members paid or pledged $1 before each annual fair. Bennington residents were not admitted as members until 1896.
There were also superintendents in charge of the various de- partments and three judges appointed for each category on the premium lists :
Horses
Best stallions
Butter and Cheese Vegetables
Best matched work horses Gentlemen's drivers Breeding mares Colts
Potatoes Garden vegetables
Mechanics' Hall
Harnesses Boots and shoes Buggies, etc.
Cattle Thoroughbreds Natives and grades Working oxen Steers
Seeds and Grain Fruits Bread and Cake Maple Sugar, Honey
1. Eber Taylor, Manchester Depot, personal diary.
2. Lewis C. Aldrich, editor, History of Bennington County (Syracuse, 1889), p. 380.
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Sheep Merinos Coarse wool sheep
Floral Hall
Flowers, plants
Domestic manufactures
Embroidery, fancy work
Oil paintings, decorations
Swine Poultry
In 1880 a single admission cost twenty-five cents and a member- ship ticket for man and wife, $1. Children under fifteen and car- riages were admitted free. In 1896 these prices were increased to $1 for a single admission and team and ten cents for children under twelve.
The original Battenkill Valley Industrial Society was dissolved in February 1887 and a temporary organization formed, incorporating later in the year with a capital stock of $5,000 in shares of $10 each. After the incorporation, the Society, which had formerly leased the Fair Grounds, purchased the thirty acres which lay just north of Manchester Center for $2,500.
An entrance from each highway-the road to Dorset and the road to Rutland-led into the Grounds. The first turned abruptly north off U.S. Rte. 7 alongside the barns and horsesheds of Thayer's Hotel (The Old Tavern) following an easy curve down over the slope of the Battenkill, which was crossed by a low wooden bridge. This entrance had a large enough right-of-way to permit the stands of hawkers and venders who sold everything from buggy whips and balloons to popcorn and bananas. Just over the bridge were the shacks housing the caged chickens, geese, and ducks.
The other entrance entered the Fair Grounds from the west alongside the house recently belonging to Mrs. Fred Stone. It was then the property of the Battenkill Valley Industrial Society and was occupied by Almon Smith. Mrs. Smith rented rooms and pro- vided dinners for fairgoers. One entered the Fair Grounds through the barn, leaving carriages on the outside and horses within. The present entrance is about a block north of this old one.
During the summer of 1888 the Society built a new grandstand for $900; new cattle pens; a new well-arranged Floral Hall with four entrances; and a "tight fence to keep out a large number who were mean enough to steal in." Estimated attendance at the fair that
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year, "and the attendance that year was not unusually great," was given as 10,000 over the three-day period. Many of the visitors came from surrounding Vermont counties and New York state.
The receipts from all sources were about $3000 while the total expenses were less than $2000 leaving ... more than a thousand dollars with which to improve their grounds and buildings and pay dividends.3
The fair was generally held during the first two weeks in Septem- ber, though sometimes late in August. Burr and Burton Seminary always closed for one day so that students could attend. It was the usual procedure to send out two or more teams to decorate the countryside with small handbills advertising the fair. These teams, composed of two men (one to hold the horses and one to do the tacking) with a buggy or buckboard, worked in "loops," each in a certain district. Posters and handbills were attached to telegraph poles, horsesheds, and store fronts over a wide area from Cam- bridge, New York, to Wells, Vermont.
Inside the Fair Grounds, the oval within the confines of the race track was usually well sprinkled with vehicles of all kinds. It was especially congested just across from the grandstand, which was a good vantage point from which to view the finish of races or the spe- cial entertainment offered between heats. Families came for the day with their teams and single rigs and lunched on the grass around their wagons. If they lived near Manchester, they returned home at nightfall and came back the next day. The out-of-town people made the most of this one annual opportunity to visit old friends and rel- atives. They stayed overnight in their wagons or in town.
There was nothing to compare with the thrills of attending that early fair. A horse-drawn bus called "HAPPY HOURS" traveled at regular intervals from "The Street" and "The Depot" carrying local people to the Fair Grounds. Emerson Estabrook, owner of the Opera House, had the contract for the 1887 fair to serve lunch and dinner in the Fair Grounds dining hall and in his own dining room. He sold over 100 gallons of oysters during the three days.
The area for concessions at the Fair Grounds was at the south end of the race track, which had been banked rather high so the
3. Aldrich, Bennington County, p. 380.
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racers could hug the pole. Near here were the merry-go-round, the Ferris wheel, penny arcade, shooting galleries, side shows, picture cameras, and more popcorn and candy stands. One of the tent at- tractions in 1887 was the patent incubator of E. C. Orvis, who had his eggs so timed that chicks hatched all three days of the fair.
The biggest and most exciting harness racing was held the last day of the fair with the "Free-for-All" carrying the largest purse. It was open to any horse, trotter or pacer, as long as the entry fee had been paid on time. Dr. John F. Page, veterinarian who was associated with the B.V.I.S. from its inception until his death in 1907, owned a number of speedy pacers and trotters.
Bicycle, foot, and peg races were usually featured on the fair pro- gram. Each fair, too, had its special attraction. One year it was the U. S. Cavalry from Fort Ethan Allen; another year it was W. R. Dean's famous bull advertised as the "MAMMOTH BULLOCK-LARGEST HORNED ANIMAL IN THE WORLD," which weighed at the age of seven and a half between 5,500 and 6,500 pounds. It measured twelve feet "from the roots of its horns to the roots of its tail"; six feet, ten inches in perpendicular height; and eleven feet, eight inches in girth.
The Battenkill Valley Industrial Society published a statement of its receipts and expenditures before annual business meetings, which were held on the second day of January each year at the Court House. Members in 1900 reported that new sheep sheds had been erected and many cattle pens replaced. "The only criticism heard," they wrote, "was in regard to the amount of drunkenness ... during the last fair." This situation was apparently remedied, as the following report said :
A pleasing feature of the fair was the almost total absence of drunkenness and rowdyism which disgraced the fair last year. As special attractions the grounds were decorated with flags, the West Pawlet band furnished good music ... and an automobile, new to most of those present, was on the track much of the time. . . .
Alas! The Automobile! It heralded the disintegration of the Manchester Fair. Though as many as 5,000 spectators continued to patronize the fair during the first quarter of the century, each year brought more interest in engines and less interest in horses. Prizes
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