Then and Now, Jan. 11, 2023

In 1863 Dennis Lane purchased mill buildings on the banks of the North Branch at the water falls where Jacob Davis had built the first mills in town. Lane held a patent on a circular saw that precisely cut timber into dimensional lumber for balloon frame buildings. He partnered with Perley Pitkin and James Brock to form the Lane Manufacturing Company, which produced sawmills, granite saws, derricks, and other machinery from an impressive collection of buildings on Franklin Street. Although the company was employing 250 people and shipping products world-wide at the end of World War I, it went bankrupt in 1961. The buildings were converted to apartments in 1979. An exhibit by the Montpelier Historical Society currently on display in the Walgreen’s window on Main Street contains more information on this important Montpelier company.