Then and Now, June 11, 2025

June 23, 2025
Historic photo courtesy of Silver Special Collections Library, UVM

The Gary Residence on Main Street began in 1915 as the Montpelier Home for the Aged, created with the modest savings of Mary Ann Gamble, a domestic servant and seamstress. In 1926, Mr. and Mrs. Lucius Taft donated Mr. Taft’s family home at 149 Main Street, seen here, to the organization for their use (for a description of the Tafts’ home next door see The Bridge, January 8, 2025, p. 3). Miss Gamble became the first resident. The estates of O.M. Fisher and Dr. Clara E. Gary added financial resources and their names to the organization, which demolished the Taft home in 1941 and constructed the building that stands today in six months, naming it the Gary Home for the Aged. The building was enlarged in 2024 with the Clara’s Garden memory care wing.

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