Brattleboro A Prosperous New England Town
From Brattleboro Community Brain Trust
Contents |
BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT A Prosperous New England Town
Published by The Brattleboro Board of Trade
Historical Brevities
First Settlement at Fort Dummer in 1724, said to be the first civilized establishment in Vermont.
Chartered by King George II in 1753.
Named after William Brattle of Massachusetts, one of the Grantees.
First Church established in 1769.
First Newspaper started in 1797.
First Masonic Lodge established in 1812.
First Bank organized in 1821.
Famous as a center in old stage-coach days.
At one time the head of steam navigation on the Connecticut River.
First postage stamp circulated here in 1845.
Famous for a decade previous to the Civil War as the location of the Wesselhoeft Water Cure.
Mobilization point of most of Vermont's troops during the Civil War.
Birthplace of Richard Morris Hunt, architect; William Morris Hunt, artist; boyhood home of Larkin Mead, sculptor; former home of Rudyard Kipling, author.
Brattleboro, Vermont
The first civilized establishment in Vermont was at Fort Dummer in 1724. Thirty-eight years later, in 1762, the first permanent settlers and house builders came to live on the meadow adjoining the fort. William Brattle was one of the grantees holding these lands and Brattleboro derives its name from the phrase "William Brattle's Borough." The pioneer spirit that brought sturdy men and women into the Vermont wilderness lives today in the Brattleboro spirit. Many inspiring incidents adorn the pages of Brattleboro's history, but none arouses greater pride than the well-deserved reputation for energy and enterprise that the town enjoys at the present time. Find a man who is well acquainted with Vermont affairs and ask him frankly which is the most progressive town in the state. If he is candid, he will reply without hesitation, "Brattleboro." Even the most envious of its competitors for honors in community leadership is obliged to acknowledge that Brattleboro possesses a record of accomplishment which entitles it to first place.
Very many things have contributed to Brattleboro's material success, but the most potent force is the all-pervading Brattleboro spirit - intangible, invisible, yet exerting its influence always. The influence of this spirit is apparent in the pride which Brattleboro people take in its past and present and the unbounded confidence which they have in its future; in the cordial welcome they extend to strangers whether in search of a business opening or merely making an incidental visit; in the friendly relations of rival merchants; in their appreciation of the value of team work in civic accomplishments; in the widespread recognition of the mutuality of interests that exists in every prosperous community.
The people of Brattleboro are a friendly lot, not noisy or explosive in their greetings, but sincere in their invitation to "Come to Brattleboro," and unflagging in their hospitality toward those who accept. And this cordiality is indicative of a deep-seated belief in Brattleboro, justified by achievement and fortified by a realization of natural advantages and location.
Situation
Located in the southeastern corner of Vermont, at the junction of the Connecticut and West Rivers, Brattleboro enjoys the advantages of being at once the gateway of the West River Valley and directly in the stream of commercial life that pulses up and down the broad Connecticut Valley.
New England is called "The Playground of America." It has its great mountains and beautiful valleys, its lakes and streams in endless variety and nowhere has nature been more generous than in Vermont. An enthusiastic admirer of Vermont scenery once described it as follows:
"Nature was in her gentler mood when she fashioned her handiwork here and even sported with design in tumbling a profusion of ever changeful pictures over the smiling landscape. The scenery is of the restful, pastoral kind; an undulating country of wonderfully verdant fields and hillsides, dimpled with tiny ponds or noble lakes, threaded by tinkling brooks or busy rivers, and crowned with the glory of the mountains. There is in it all such a charm of unspeakable harmony, such a wonderful blending of moods, grave and gay, with such an appealing suggestion of subdued grandeur and mighty reserve of power throughout, that the thoughts of careless man who dwells in the midst of it are inspired to a loftier and truer beauty sense and a more reverential uplift than he dares attempt to express."
The fidelity of the foregoing word picture will be gainsaid by no one who has had even a fleeting glimpse of the region drained by the West River, because there is is no section of Vermont that offers a wider range of attraction to the recreation seeker. You are "away up in the Vermont hills," but withal, within easy reach of the great centers. Springfield is sixty miles south, Boston but five hours' ride and New York only six hours distant. It is not surprising then that each year more people come here to spend a real re-creation period.
Natural Advantages
But Brattleboro not only has the magnetic appeal of its beautiful scenery. The business man sees the value of a natural highway like the West River Valley terminating at this town and making it a natural commercial center. he has seen vast possibilities of undeveloped power in the mighty Connecticut, and the great hydro-electric power plant of the Connecticut River Power Co. just below the town is a fulfillment of that vision and a promise of greater enterprise.
West River, too, has been harnessed to develop electric power. The plant of the Twin State Gas and Electric Company, located at West Dummerston, supplies most of the needs of the town.
The obvious advantages of electric power and the low price at which it is furnished here are practical inducements no manufacturer can overlook.
Near Brattleboro are great outcroppings of granite of superior quality which can be quarried very cheaply on the surface. The town is on the edge of both the hard- and soft-wood belts, and, consequently, wood-working industries find a favorable situation here.
Brattleboro is served by two actually competing railroads. It is on the Connecticut and Passumpsic Division of the Boston and Maine railroad, and it is the northern terminus of the New London Division of the Central Vermont Road. The recent expenditure of nearly half a million dollars has given Brattleboro really excellent freight-yard facilities in beauty and convenience with those in much larger centers.
There are still desirable factory sites to be secured, and an inquiry to the Board of Trade secretary will bring such data as to resources and possibilities as may be desired.
Civic Enterprise
The school system of Brattleboro is counted as the most efficient in the state and one of the best in New England. The yearly appropriations are generous enough to provide well-appointed and well-cared-for buildings. The teaching staffs are of a high standard, and the supervision is efficient and progressive. The records of students going from Brattleboro schools to higher institutions speak well for the excellence of the training given here. Physical and well as mental training is an ideal of the Brattleboro system, and athletics are liberally encouraged and enthusiastically supported. The schools are proud of the records they have set up in Vermont inter-scholastic events, and they have just reason to be.
Besides the grade schools and the high school, there is a parochial school, a free public kindergarten and a private kindergarten.
The Brattleboro Free Library is maintained by generous annual appropriations by the town and is housed in the Brooks Library building which has recently been enlarged and greatly improved. There are about twenty-five thousand volumes and the public has free access to the shelves.
There is a warm and active Church life in Brattleboro. There are fourteen religious bodies and twelve of them have buildings of their own. They are:
- Advent Christian Church - Cottage St.
- Baptist Church - Main Street
- Baptist Church - West Brattleboro
- Centre Congregational Church - Main Street
- Christian Science Church - Emerson Block
- Congregational Church - West Brattleboro
- Methodist Episcopal Church - Elliot Street
- St. Michael's Episcopal Church - Main Street
- St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church - Walnut Street
- Salvation Army - Retting Block
- Swedish Congregational Church - Strand Ave.
- Swedish Lutheran Church - West Street
- Unitarian Church - Main Street
- Universalist Church - Canal Street
Public Institutions
The Brattleboro Retreat was founded in 1836 with a trust fund of $10,000, "for the relief of insane persons." This slender fund for so large an undertaking was supplemented by state appropriations to about $23,000. At the time of the establishment there were only ten such institutions in this country, and it was made the model for the United States in the treatment of the unfortunates. In recent years the character of the institution has changed until now it is a beautifully situated, well-managed sanitarium for the care of mental and nervous diseases. About four hundred patients are accommodated each year. The buildings are large and modern with much valuable equipment installed and the lands of the Retreat are nine miles in circumference.
The Brattleboro Memorial Hospital was built from a fund of a million dollars provided by the will of Thomas Thompson "for the relief of poor seamstresses, needlewomen, and shop girls in temporary need in Brattleboro, Vermont and Rhinebeck, N. Y." If there was any surplus from the income of the fund, it was to be expended in kindred charities. Under the liberal provisions of the will, the trustees obtained a beautiful location for a hospital situated on a hill in the midst of a grove of pines. The buildings, which are of the most approved modern hospital construction, were erected at a cost of over $100,000 and the institution has ample facilities for taking care of the needs for some time to come not only of Brattleboro, but districts in its vicinity.
One instance of the pioneer spirit of Brattleboro is given by the Brattleboro Mutual Aid Society. This organization was first in establishing an effective civic-health center. It aims to supply the needs of the sick by visiting nurses where these needs cannot be covered by hospital service. It is organized in a spirit of neighborly helpfulness and not only sends its trained nurses to help the sick, but gives instruction in the houses as to the best methods of taking care of children and the home, and often the society provides housekeepers during illness in the family. Besides maintaining rooms in Brattleboro, the Mutual Aid Association has a Vacation House at Niantic, Long Island Sound, where its beneficiaries may find rest and health in comfortable and beautiful surroundings.
The Austine Institution, established with money bequeathed by the man whose name it bears, together with a generous appropriation from the state, has a beautiful building on an eminence which commands a broad view of the Connecticut River Valley. It is doing a splendid work in the care and education of defective children. Under the careful guidance of the instructors, blind children are taught to take care of themselves and deaf-and-dumb children learn to overcome their handicaps. This institution is steadily growing in reputation and it has an important place in the state's philanthropic activities.
Brattleboro is a trading center for a large agricultural territory and one of the most appreciated factors of the town is the Rest Room. Here visitors find large, comfortable furnished rooms where they may rest or use the writing desks and other conveniences. Light lunches are also served. The Woman's Exchange, in connection with the Rest Room, is a successful feature.
Brattleboro boats the most highly developed telephone system per capita in New England, if not in the United States.
The Post Office, which for many years has held the distinction for being first in Vermont in increase in total receipts, is of First Class. It has its home in the new Federal Building, a modern brick fire-proof structure which cost $170,000.
The tax rate averages about $19 on a sixty per cent property valuation. The bonded debt is far below what experts in municipal government consider a reasonable liability. The town enjoys a good credit rating.
The Brattleboro Home for the Aged has a building of commanding appearance which is situated very pleasantly with broad fields at its back and yet near enough to the traffic on Western Avenue to keep it from being lonely. The home is an outgrowth of the feeling that such a building was necessary to the welfare of the town. In 1896 the first house, a private residence bought and remodeled, was dedicated to its purpose: to provide, at a moderate expense, a comfortable and congenial home for aged people of good character who are left with limited means and without suitable homes. It was made possible by gifts from the generous people of Brattleboro. BY 1903 the home had become inadequate and the present building was erected. It was designed with an eye to beauty and suitability for its purpose and is handsomely equipped.
In West Brattleboro is the Melrose Hospital which is doing efficient service with a steadily growing reputation.
In other fields of civic endeavor, Brattleboro stands high. It has an excellent water system, considered the best in the state, and, consequently, there is adequate fire protection. The fire department has had added to its equipment a large combination auto truck and it is a material factor in reducing fire hazards to a minimum.
Social and Fraternal Aspects
Brattleboro is fortunate in the possession of well-housed fraternal orders and clubs.
The Vermont Wheel Club has splendidly appointed rooms where its large and representative membership enjoys the advantages that any metropolitan club offers.
The Odd Fellows are now at home in a fine big brick temple which has just been completed.
The Masonic Temple and club house on Main Street is well appointed and commodious.
Numerous other fraternal and social organizations have rooms in town.
The Brattleboro Country Club has a well-kept, nine-hole golf course, tennis courts and a commodious club house about two miles out of town. It is a great factor in the social life of the town.
Manufacturing and Mercantile Activities
Brattleboro's manufacturing and mercantile establishments employ over two thousand men and women - happy, contented men and women, possessed of loyalty to local institutions and appreciation of the community of local interests. They help to make organs and furniture that are shipped to all parts of the world. They work in shops that make a big proportion of the overalls for the workmen of New England; toys, paper, cotton cloth, books, magazines, monuments, doors, sash, blinds, cigar boxes, cigars and so on. These varied lines of activity are pursued with scarcely a sign of misunderstanding. Brattleboro is above all a democratic community and the manufacturer escapes the handicap of labor strife.
No account of the business life of Brattleboro would be complete without mention of the Holstein-Friesian Association of America which has its national secretarial headquarters here. It occupies a unique building especially built and equipped for it. Over one hundred clerks and stenographers are employed in the numerous departments. A large proportion of them are engaged in checking up the thousands of applications of registry and transfer. Others of the force are employed in correspondence, indexing, filing, and accounting. Still others have charge of the membership work, and another force prepares copy for the herd-books gotten out each year. The work of the publicity bureau of the Association is also carried on here.
The Purebred Live Stock Sales Company has a special building in Brattleboro and its sales attract buyers of purebred cattle and live stock from all over the country.
The banks of Brattleboro supply every need of agricultural, commercial, and industrial expansion. The two national banks and trust company have a combined capital of $400,000 and combined surplus and undivided profits of $932,000 and deposits of $7,186,000.
A great many of the laborers own their own homes, and Brattleboro has no congested districts. It is a town of homes, with pleasant lawns and well-kept gardens. Cleanliness and neatness are characteristics of this town, and this is due to the high order of the working people.
The Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is the crystallization of the Brattleboro community spirit. It has taken the lead among commercial organizations of the state for progressivism and ability to put things through. When the County Farm Bureau began to be agitated in Massachusetts, the Brattleboro Board of Trade laid hold of the idea and had it in successful operation before other sections had done talking about it. The Windham County Farm Bureau is today one of the most vital factors in the agricultural life of the county and its agent is one of the busiest and most valuable men in the community. To a member of the Board of Trade belongs credit for being the originator of the Brattleboro Guest day, and affair now become an institution distinctive of Brattleboro. On this annual occasion the Board of Trade becomes the host of the people within a radius of twenty miles of Brattleboro and thousands of people flock in to share in the open-handed hospitality of the day. Concerts, games and all kinds of amusements are free and it is all in a spirit of friendliness and neighborliness.
Guest day is doing much to cement closer the relations of the townspeople and the people of the communities which naturally make this their trading center. The Board of Trade is the center of cooperative effort for the solution of any problem that may confront the town.
The Board of Trade covers a wide field and under the impetus of its progressive members, it is bound to continue to be of ever-increasing value to the community.
To this end the organization recently acquired commodious and well-furnished quarters in the town building, and raised a special fund for the employment of a professional secretary whose entire time is devoted to Board of Trade and kindred activities. These quarters are shared by the Windham County Farm Bureau, and are intended to become the center of every movement that has for its object the betterment of Brattleboro and adjacent territory.
