Then and Now, Mar. 6, 2024

March 6, 2024

In 1900, placid water behind the Bailey/Clothespin dam created attractive reflections of downtown structures including the 1898 steel truss bridge over the Winooski River, the wooden E.W. Bailey grain elevator, and the three-story National Spring Clip Company building. The Colton Saddlery Hardware building was beyond the bridge on Winooski Avenue and the State House dome, not yet gilded, could be seen above the top of the bridge. Today, only the State House dome and river remain in this scene. The grain elevator burned in 1923; the spring clip building was demolished and the Sarducci’s building moved onto its site in 1962; Winooski Avenue became a wider Memorial Drive in 1963; and the bridge was replaced in 1976.

Letters to the Editor

Have something to say about this? Submit a letter to the editor!

Send a news tip

Do you know of something going on we should cover? Let us know about it.

Submit an event

Organizing an event? Submit it to our ever-growing calendar.

Latest from Then and Now

Then and Now, Oct. 7, 2026

This Italianate house at 144 Elm Street was part of a crowded streetscape illustrated by A.F. Poole in his 1884 “birdseye” view of Montpelier.…

Then and Now, Sept. 9, 2026

College Hall was built at the top of a dirt path that would become East State Street in 1872 by the Vermont Methodist Seminary,…

Then & Now, Aug. 4, 2026

Historic photo courtesy of Vermont Historical Society; modern photo and text by Paul Carnahan In the 19th and 20th centuries, Montpelier, like most Vermont…

Then and Now, July 8, 2026

In the 1870s Wrightsville, a small hamlet on the North Branch four miles north of the center of Montpelier and clustered around the mills…

Then and Now, June 3, 2026

In 1920, about the time that this photograph was taken, the area on the southwest side of Berlin Street was lightly developed but growing.…

Sign In

Register

Reset Password

Please enter your username or email address, you will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Go toTop

Don't Miss