Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Thanksgiving: everybody brings something

Photo by Maeve Kim

Thanksgiving: 

everybody brings something

   We are looking back over the past year or so recognizing what folks in our community have given us or helped us attain.

   Gourds and grapes overflowing from a roadside stand find their way to our back door, a note of generosity cresting the offering. 

   Vegetables are a staple for us all year with a rare exception including on Thanksgiving. The best vegetables are those grown from healthy soil, tended by our own hands, pollinated by insects who do so free of charge. 

   Many ingredients are in the recipe for our soil, including a raised bed mix delivered by a Jericho Mason who arrives with a smile every time. We also purchased compost from the folks at Davis Farm (recycle and reuse locally). 

   We strive to improve the biological, physical, and chemical (ph, carbon, etc.) properties of the soil by, adding used coffee grounds from JCS, donated wood chips from blowdowns or cuts, and leaves from trees all across town. Donated wood pallets frame our leaf collection slowly working down to leaf litter, which will provide valuable nutrients to the soil. Donated compost bins also aid in the process. From these efforts and contributions, we get vegetables that are more nutrient-dense food (as we increase the percentage of organic matter which increases the nutrients in the soil). 

   The two bat houses on our barn, both built and donated to us, may well bring us bats and thereby guano to add to the recipe. Some of the scraps of wood donated to us went into bird boxes that surround our yard. The birds sing for us as we prepare the feast for the Thanksgiving meal. 

   A large owl box was donated to us as a kit we quickly put together with admiration at the skilled craftsman who brought it to us. Perhaps on Thanksgiving eve, we will hear a Barred Owl hooting call “Who cooks for you, Who cooks for you-all?”

   Sometimes the load is just too heavy for us to carry alone. A loaned pickup truck carried donated cement blocks, bricks, pavers, and wood chips for a vegetable garden expansion. Two-inch thick and ten-inch wide hemlock planks, locally sourced and milled, created our raised beds from which much of our food will come. 

   Folks have shared their labor, expertise, and things with us. Neighbor helping neighbor is part of the process of communal living. 

   Our tomato plants are supported like we are by a community member's donation of tomato cages. Our carrots would be rabbit food and our blackberry plants deer browsed, if not for receiving some fencing and stakes and 4x4's that neighbors donated.  

   When our garden skills were a bit inadequate - last year our zucchini crop failed, and this year our garlic crop would not keep a vampire at bay - in each case, community members came through for us and filled in the gap with donations from their gardens. We also received unusual pepper starter plants that will add flavor at our table.

   Our Thanksgiving basket is sprinkled with locally donated walnuts fresh off the tree - Though I have to say the process of drying, husking, and breaking open the nuts was as underestimated, as was the portion size that we ‘shared’ with the chipmunks who surely must have a fine Thanksgiving table indeed. 

   Local chickens contributed to the table as well, via roadside and farm-direct fresh egg sales. Oh, how dark and orange the yolks are. We enjoy observing the chickens that are visible at some of the locations we buy eggs! We like knowing where our food comes from!

   Flowers on the table - for what would a Thanksgiving dinner be without flowers to remind us of the beauty of nature, how close at hand she is, and how fragile she can become if we do not protect her habitat?

   Liquid refreshment consists of apple cider, thanks to our conservation and community-minded friend whose apple-press ground up our apples to a pulp then pressed out juice as golden as some of the fall leaves, fresh-tasting as the day the apples fell off the trees. 

   For dessert, raspberry jam with the aroma of spring and fall combined, canned for us. The jam helps to ease our winter confinement. Jericho maple syrup flows across the table in goblets sure to satisfy even the sweet-lovers like me. 

   I am sure I have missed or forgotten some of the bounties that fill our basket, brought to us from folks in Jericho, Underhill, and Richmond. Nonetheless, we are thankful for each of you, for your generosity, kindness, thoughtfulness, camaraderie, for sharing part of yourselves with us. 

   What will be the talk at our Thanksgiving table? We are often inspired by a diversity of discussion, ideas, and opinions to challenge our thinking, exchange ideas, drive creativity to solve problems, and constantly refresh our view of the world. Sharing our passions with others rings our bell and builds our confidence. 

   Support from community members buffers our determined perseverance and resilience. Acts of kindness and encouragement create hope and knowledge within us that we are not alone.

   Maeve and I bow our heads and hold each other's hands, thankful for each other, and together recall how much the Jericho and Underhill, and Richmond communities have filled our table, our minds, and our hearts. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families

Bernie and Maeve

PS see Bernie's fall poem below.

A November Blessing 

by Bernie Paquette


Oh sunshine, where do you go with November in tow?

Do you follow the leaves of October

and drop low?   

 

  Do you languish

   as the roses, and green leaves, 

turn in or fall off in anguish?


   Has daylight saving time

      run out for you 

     with no one to turn over

       the hourglass?


If you did rise and shine

  frost would melt, yawns would cease,

we would praise you as divine. 


     Blue skies would no longer be cold

  bare limbs once barren, 

 would glow as your rays rush by.


    Mercury would climb the stairs 

instead of slipping down the slide.


   For now, 

  you settle with golden grace

over calm waters 

behind serene mountains 

  melting our hopes

   in a cold kettle. 


Oh, sunshine where do you go

 to another land

     leaving us here with snow? 


    We yearn for your return 

    as you fade away 

perhaps not to return until May.


Oh, sunshine where do you go

                  with winter in tow?



Monday, November 22, 2021

Jericho & Underhill VT. Fire Destroys Landmarks 1800 - 1900s

Guest post and photos by Gary Irish 

Edited and formated by Bernie Paquette


Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill VT. Fire Destroys Landmarks


Part IV Fire Destroys Landmarks


At about 2 o’clock on the morning of January 11, 1891 fire was discovered in the attic at the rear of the old inn.  The Burlington Free Press of Friday, January 16, 1891, reported it as follows:

“Another Landmark Gone.  The Dixon House at Underhill in Ashes – Loss $12,600, Insurance $8000

“The pleasant hotel at Underhill Flats was discovered to be on fire on Sunday morning at 2 o’clock by persons residing in the vicinity.  It had been closed for the winter and was unoccupied, but fires were put into the building on Saturday for the purpose of warming the house.  When the fire was discovered the upper part of the ell was one sheet of flame and had made such headway it was soon a mass of smoldering ruins.  The main body of the house was soon on fire, and the night being a still one and the building burning from the roof downward, it was three o’clock before the last walls were prostrate.  Only one tall chimney remains standing in its stately height as if silently protesting against such sad havoc and desolation.  There was so little commotion that people residing almost within a stone’s throw of the hotel did not know of its destruction until morning.  Some of the furniture on the two lower floors of the main building was saved.  It is supposed that the fire caught from one of the chimneys in the ell.  The building was insured by T.S. Peck of Burlington in several stock companies for $6,000 and the furniture for $2000."

“This hotel has been a pleasant resort for many from all parts of New England and it will be with regret that they learn of its loss.  It was first known as the Bostwick House, being built by Arthur Bostwick about the year 1803.  It was then an unpretentious two-story building but was afterward somewhat enlarged by him.  Clark Bostwick of this village was the first child born within its walls.  It afterward passed into the hands of Rufus Brown, a son-in-law of Mr. Bostwick, who still further enlarged it by building more sleeping rooms in the ell part.  Nearly 25 years ago the property was purchased by L.M. Dixon and by him beautified and enlarged to the commodious house it has since been.  Mr. Dixon proved to be an excellent landlord and under his supervision, it was made a very attractive summer resort and was well patronized.  About two years ago and after the death of Mr. Dixon, the hotel was purchased by Dr. A.F. Burdick, and by him had been newly painted, papered, carpeted, and furnished throughout at an expense of several thousand dollars."

“In 1832 the barns of the hotel, which stood very nearly where the present ones are situated, were accidentally set on fire by a candle and burned to the ground, the hotel itself barely escaping the same fate.  Perhaps some of the older residents may remember the sign which used to adorn the post in front of this old-time hostelry.  It was shield-shaped and was painted by a man from Burlington named Wicker.  The work was done in the north room over the barroom and the landscape he painted thereon was from the natural scenery of hill, wood, and dale, which the painter could see from the hotel window.  On this sign was painted “Bostwick House” in large gilt letters.  The other side was adorned with a two-wheeled chariot, drawn by fiery steeds driven by a woman.  

A man by the name of Burroughs first drove a stage through this section from Essex Junction through Cambridge to Johnson, the mail having previously been carried by a man on horseback.  Mr. Burroughs drove a very unassuming vehicle but about the year 1827 a man named Roswell Butler from Essex came on to the route with “nice yellow coaches” bought at Concord, N.H., and drawn by four horses, and for years the crack of the driver’s whip as he reined his fiery steeds driven at full gallop up the hill to the door of the Bostwick House, was a familiar sound.  The railway mail system has obliterated the old-time stagecoach and to the regret of many, the insatiable element of fire has obliterated the pleasant resort for the traveler and the pleasure seeker – the Dixon House.”

Site of the Bostwick House, 2018

The Green Mountain Press of January 13th had the following card of thanks from Dr. Burdick: “I desire to express my sincere thanks to the village people of Underhill Flats who so promptly responded to the alarm of fire on Sunday morning, and who so ably assisted, at the risk of their lives, in saving property.  Especial thanks are due Mr. M.L. Washburn for the coolness exhibited, and for the efficient manner in which he superintended the removal of hotel furniture.”

Mr. & Mrs. B.M. Norris also had a card of thanks in the paper:
 “We wish to return our hearty thanks to those who worked so hard to save our son’s house from burning during the burning of the Dixon House.”

While the entire building was burned to the ground, those who responded to the alarm were able to remove the piano and much of the furniture.  The furniture which was saved was stored at Thompson's Hall (this was an assembly hall on the second floor of what is today Jacobs’ store on Park Street before that space was converted to living quarters in 1892), and Dr. Burdick soon advertised that “$2000 worth of Dixon House goods will be sold at…private sale” starting on January 26.  In the fall of 1896, Dr. Burdick had a new tenement house built on the Dixon House lot, and the next fall, he had another house built there.  

An unfortunate “casualty” of the hotel fire was the nearby Calvary Episcopal Church.  For many years, summer visitors who stayed at the hotel had been a large part of the support of the Church, located just north of the hotel, and with the loss of the Dixon House, and therefore the summer visitors, the church’s finances suffered for many years after.

Calvary Episcopal Church

Across the street from the Barney Hotel was the site of Fletcher’s storehouse, which about 1848 was fitted up as a store by Erastus Field and Ferdinand Beach.  It was next operated by Beach and L.B. Howe from about 1852 to 1866 and then carried on by Henry Field and Hira Percival until 1872.  John Percival and Edwin Oakes then operated it until it was destroyed by fire in 1874.  

At the time, Orlin Rood’s harness shop stood just to the east of the store, and that also burned in the fire.  He soon rebuilt his shop, and in 1881 Wareham Pierce from Jericho Center built a large Victorian commercial block on the site of the old store.  He carried on the store until 1891 when it was sold to the Home Market, an incorporated company.  They rented one side to first Suter and Lamphere and later to just Charles Suter, who carried on a dry goods business, while the other side was rented to B.A. Donaldson for his grocery store.

Later Donaldson took over the entire store for his grocery business.  Meanwhile, the second floor was finished off as offices and the rooms for the Masonic Hall for McDonough Lodge #26, F&AM, which moved here from Essex in 1882.  Among the offices there at one time or another were Samuel Clark’s boot and shoe shop, Arthur Bradford’s print shop, Joseph Gouther’s barbershop, and Dr. Bradford’s dentist office, along with the office of the WCTU. 

In March 1889 it was reported that M.H. Alexander had rented the three front rooms on the second floor, including the one then used as a barbershop, and had commenced furnishing one of them in elaborate style as a law office, although just the next month, a barber had put in a chair upstairs in Pierce’s Block, next door the M.H. Alexander’s office.

This building was destroyed in a fire that occurred on the night of January 11, 1901 (Ten years after the fire that destroyed the  Dixon House). The fire also destroyed Rood’s harness shop (by now operated by Orlin’s son Dennis) adjoining on the east side, and the tin shop and home of Joseph Bissonette on the west. 

The lot sat vacant until 1928 when George Ladue purchased it and started to construct a store.  But he took a job in the store of George Woodruff across the street and used this building as a garage to house his car while he was working at the Woodruff store.  It was sold to Fred Greenough in the early 1930s, and he made it into a small but popular meat market with a few groceries.  He added a back room which he used to store ice for the refrigerators. 

The property was next sold to Emile Grenier.  He was a barber and also operated a woodworking business.  He used the front part of the building for his barbershop and enlarged the rear portion to house his wood-turning machines.  He later moved to Plains Road, and converted these buildings to living quarters, renting the front building to John Moiles and the rear to the Lessor family. 

In the 1940s the buildings were taken over by George Woodruff for his Brown’s River Maple Products business, which used the front building as a shop to sell maple products. 

Brown's River Maple Products, taken from in front of what is today Jericho General Store

The building behind the Brown's River Maple Products building - you can see just a bit of it behind the other building in the previous picture.

At the corner of Route 15 and Lee River Road, currently the site of Stanley Knapp’s home, there were two business blocks.  On the north was the Chesmore Block, which had been the home of LaFayette Wilbur, a well-known local lawyer, in the 1850s; in the 1870s Spafford Wright had a carriage manufacturing business here; it then was used as a store by Samuel Clark, and later A.A. Chesmore.  

On the south was the post office block, thought to have been in use as such by 1798, and later also a store operated by, among others, H.N. Percival, E.W. Curtis, and J.H. May.  At the time of the fire, on November 20, 1906, it housed both the post office and the drug store of E.B. Williams, and the upper floors were the home of Dr. W.C. Jackson. 


Underhill Drug Store


 The fire was first discovered in the rear of the Chesmore Block, and in no time the whole block was a mass of flames.  The drug store, separated by only a few feet, was almost immediately in flames as well, and both buildings were burned to the ground in less than two hours. 

The harness shop of Peter Gomo, about twenty feet to the north, was only prevented from burning by carpets hung over the side and kept wet with water.  The Folsom house, on the corner of Plains Road, had the paint on the entire front blistered, and many windows were cracked by the heat of the fire.  Most of the contents of the post office were saved, along with the prescription files of the drug store, but little else survived the fire.

Underhill Drug Store, with glimpses of the Riverside Methodist Church on the left.

The Burlington Free Press, in a November 22, 1906 article, described it as follows: Night Fire At At [sic] Jericho Post Office, Drug Store, Grocery, and Two Dwelling Destroyed

“Jericho Nov. 20 – There is very little left of the business portion of this village.  Three times in the past few years fire has eaten in the principal street, the latest calamity coming this morning, when the post office, and drug store and dwelling of William Jackson, with the grocery store of W.W. Chesmore and the tenement above it, were burned to the ground.

“Mrs. Sarah Jackson, who lives with her son, Mr. Jackson, over the post office, was the first to discover the fire, which started from a defective chimney in the unoccupied tenement over the Chesmore store and was then burning very rapidly.  She gave the alarm but the flames were already beyond control.  The village is without fire protection and little could be done beyond saving what goods could be easily moved.

“Peter Gomo’s harness shop, near the grocery store, was in great danger, but the volunteer bucket brigade managed to save it by constant wetting, water being brought from the river some distance away [Peter Gomo had worked for the Roods, whose shop was destroyed by fire twice – see above].  The north wind was also in favor of the buildings across the street, thus preventing a much more serious disaster.

“People in the village noted a strong odor of smoke early in the evening but thought it came from chimneys.  The estimated loss is $10,000, well covered by insurance.”

The fire that wiped out the last of Jericho Corner’s commercial district occurred on April 15, 1963, when the Rotunda Brothers grocery store and the adjacent home of the George Bessette family, formerly the drug store of William and Minnie Jackson, both burned.  Ironically, George Woodruff, who had previously owned this store, died the next day. 

When the Barney Hotel next door had burned in 1904, the store, only separated by a driveway from the hotel, was saved, and now in 1963, Joe’s Snack Bar, built by Joe Rotunda’s son, Joe, Jr., was again only separated from the store by the same driveway.  But as before, when the store burned, the snack bar was saved.

The north side of Route 15 at Jericho Corners, just east of the Brown's River bridge.  Left to right - the Jericho post office, probably when Herb Hutchinson was postmaster, now Kozlowski's; William and Minnie Jackson's drug store, formerly E.B. Williams, now part of the parking lot for Joe's Snack Bar; and the former E.B. Williams grocery store, by the time of the photo probably George Woodruff's, and now the rest of Joe's parking lot.  I'd guess this dates to the 1930s.  the latter two buildings are what burned in the 1963 fire.

This store had been built about 1824 by William Prentiss and Thomas Taylor.  From 1832 to 1890, the store was operated by no less than eleven different people.  At that time, it was purchased by E.B. Williams, who had previously carried on the drug store in the post office block.  Mr. Williams also operated the sawmill on Cilley Hill Road, as well as a coal business, and for over 35 years was the Jericho town treasurer and moderator.  He continued the business until his death in 1929 when it was purchased by George Woodruff.  He carried it on until selling it to the Rotunda Brothers (Joe and Tom) in 1940.

The brick house next door, which was built about 1815, was originally the home of Horatio Barney, who ran the wool carding mill on Lee River.  In the 1890s, E. B. Williams converted the home into a drug store, and after his death in 1929, it was taken over by William and Minnie Jackson.  Mr. Jackson not only filled prescriptions but was qualified to examine eyes for glasses.  After he died in 1941, Minnie continued the business for a time as a newsstand, ice cream parlor, and bus stop, with prescriptions being sent to Burlington to be filled. 


Underhill Fire

About 11:00 am on the morning of August 11, 1906, an oil stove in the home of Walter Grace exploded.  Mr. Grace was asleep at the time, and Mrs. Grace was in a hammock in the front yard.  By the time it was discovered by Mrs. Hattie Palmer, a neighbor, it was too far advanced for the structure to be saved, Mr. Grace escaping without time to even save his hat. 

The house of Dr. Nay, separated by only a driveway, was soon in flames, although the furniture was able to be saved, and it quickly spread next door to the drug store, where only some office furniture was saved. 

It was thought at first that the Methodist church next to the drug store could be saved, being protected somewhat by its slate roof, and citizens formed a bucket brigade.  However, they were hampered by a lack of water, and the church was soon engulfed as well.  The fire spread next to the grange hall on the other side of the church. 

Grange Hall, formerly a store, was beside the Methodist Church in Riverside.  The "Park & Grange Hall Underhill" photo also shows the grange hall, but far enough away to give you an idea of its location.  You can see what was the Congregational Church, now the United Church, behind it, what was Dr. Burdick's house on the left, and through the trees just a hint of the brick store.

 As the seriousness of the fire was realized, word was sent to Burlington, where a special train was made up in 20 minutes by conductor J.L. Berry, with engine 328 under the control of engineer H.H. Knox and fireman George Fortier hauling a flat car on which had been loaded a fire engine.  The train left Burlington at 12:55 with nine firefighters and arrived in Underhill in only 35 minutes.  The fire engine was located beside the Creek behind Dr. Burdick’s house, and a hose soon run to the scene of the fire.  Volunteers were able to pull down the horse sheds behind the church, which prevented the fire from spreading to other nearby homes, some of which had their roofs covered with wet blankets to protect them from the sparks.  Several times both the Barrows store and the Congregational church did catch fire but were quickly extinguished before serious damage. 

A picture of the scene after the fire of August 1906.  Note the blankets on the roof of the house in the center background, kept wet to keep that house from catching fire.  And you can see the church and store in the left background that did catch fire, but which were put out and the buildings saved.

Soon after the arrival of the fire engine rain began to fall, and the firemen were able to return with their engine to Burlington about 5 pm.  Total loss from the fire was put at $15,000.

The Burlington Free Press of August 16, 1906, reported it thus: 

Large Fire In Underhill Methodist Church and Several Other Buildings Burned Started by Oil Stove Explosion

“Underhill, Aug. 12 - A most disastrous fire swept through Underhill Saturday.  The fire originated at the home of Walter Grace caused by the explosion of an oil stove.  The alarm was given but before help reached there the house was in flames.  The next to take fire was the residence and drug store of Dr. W.S. Nay.  By this time in answer to [the] telephone, a good many men from the adjoining villages responded but the fire had made such headway under the impetus of a strong south wind with the facilities at hand it was impossible to cope with it.  The two remaining buildings between that and the park were the Methodist Church and Grange hall, which were both burned.  It was only by the most strenuous efforts of those present that the fire was held from crossing the street.  Dr. Burdick’s, Harmon Howard’s residences and H. Barrow’s store, and the Congregational Church caught fire several times but were extinguished.

Park and Grange Hall

“An engine was sent for from Burlington but did not arrive in time to save any of the buildings.

“The losses will be heavy but partly covered by insurance.  Mr. Grace did not save any of his household effects.  A large part of Dr. Nay’s furniture was carried out and part of the drug store stock.”

When the Pierce Block was built in Jericho Corners in 1881, W.N. Pierce had part of the upper floor finished as a Masonic Hall, and in June 1882 the McDonough Lodge #26 moved to Jericho from Essex.  On January 11, 1901, the building was completely destroyed by fire.  This resulted in the Lodge moving to the upper floor of Dr. Nay’s drug store in Riverside.  Now just over five years later, they were burned out once again.

Rebuilding soon began, both on a new structure for the Methodist Church and a new home and drug store for Dr. Nay.  The upper floor of the new drug store included a new Masonic Hall for the McDonough Lodge, which they occupied until purchasing and renovating the former Baptist church in Jericho Corners for their lodge in 1929.  


The new Methodist Church and new drug store, soon after they were built.  Note the street lamp on the drug store porch post, and also note the building shown through the trees just to the left of the Congregational Church - you can't see much except a door.   


Dr. Nay's new house, built beside the drug store after the fire.  Today the home of Peter and Kate Mitchell. 

Starting in August 1915, Alice Ayer began working in the drug store with Dr. Nay, and after being trained by him, Miss Ayer was the first woman to become a licensed pharmacist in the state of Vermont.  (The story is told that when she went to Montpelier to take her exam, she failed the test - because Dr. Nay had neglected to teach her how to make pills!  Even though by that time, most pills were coming ready-made, the skill was still a requirement, and after he taught her the art of "rolling pills", she passed the exam with flying colors.)Dr. Nay continued to run his drug store in the new enlarged building until selling it about a month prior to his death in 1949 at the age of 98 years. 


Dr. W. Scott Nay


The new Methodist Church, in the late 1930s.  Just to the left of the church is what was used as the church parish house.  This was purchased in 1864 through the efforts of Deacon Wells and put in repair for use as the chapel of the Congregational Church.  After the church parlors were added to the church building in 1885, this building was no longer needed and was sold to Amos Humphrey.  It was used from 1894 to 1896 by the Underhill Library Association for their library, which had outgrown its previous location in Dr. Nay's office.  Mr. Humphrey then became the Underhill postmaster and converted this building to the Underhill post office.  

After the 1906 fire that had destroyed the grange hall, the grange purchased this building and moved it to its present location.  This building originally resembled the present Underhill Center post office building, with an open portico on the front.  The grange disbanded in 1908, so that is likely when ownership was transferred to the Methodist Church.  

Then on the left of this picture is the Underhill fire station.  The fire truck had been housed in a portion of Elbridge Nealy's jewelry store on Park Street (today the apartment building across the street from Jacob's Market), but when Mr. Nealy needed more room in his store in 1936, this building was built as the new fire station.  This was used until the next fire station was built in 1952, and then it was moved across the street where it is used as a private garage today.

Former Underhill Fire Station

Hector Marcoux, who had just sold his grocery store on Park Street to the Jacobs family, was the next owner of the drug store.  

Hector Marcoux

He remodeled it, including adding a soda fountain, also selling books and stationery, and at this time converted the former Masonic rooms on the upper floor into living quarters for his family.  At this time, prescriptions were no longer filled in the drug store but were sent to the Terminal Pharmacy in Burlington (operated by Melville Maurice of Underhill Center) to be filled.  In 1953, the drug store was sold to Mr. Agius of South Burlington, who remodeled the drug store area into the Underhill Restaurant, lunch, and newsstand, which he operated for a short time.  He then sold to the Snow family, who lived there about a year and a half before selling the building to Bruce Ward.  He operated it as Ward’s Luncheonette in the early 1960s.  It has been used as apartments since then.

~Gary Irish

View the MMCTV video of my program on The Flats/Riverside that I presented for the Chittenden County  Historical Society on December 5 as part of the rollout of Volume 3 of the Jericho Town History, now available for viewing at:  https://archive.org/details/gary-irish-underhill-flats-history-12052021

Saturday, November 13, 2021

Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill VT. Restaurants 1930 to present

Guest post and photos by Gary Irish 

Edited and formated by Bernie Paquette


Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill VT. Restaurants (1930 -2021)


Joe's Dairy Bar, c1960 


Part III Restaurants 


The businesses (in Part II) were primarily overnight accommodations. For someone passing through town who just wanted a meal, several businesses opened to cater to their needs as well.  

In the 1930s, Harmon and Agnes Howe returned to Jericho.  Harmon was the grandson of Lucien Howe, who had operated the Chittenden Mills flour mill.  They took down the brick “servant’s quarters” on the Galusha farm, what is now 5 Lee River Road, and used the brick to build a luncheonette on the former post office site, what is now 50 Route 15.  

The two-story building right in the center of the picture is what was taken down, the brick being used to build Howe's restaurant.

They operated this successfully for several years, and after Harmon’s death in 1938, Agnes continued the business for a short time before selling to Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Rowland.  The Rowlands converted part of the building into living quarters and continued the luncheonette business into the 1940s before it was finally closed.  The building is now the home of Stanley Knapp.

Rowland's restaurant, now the Stan Knapp home,
Route 15 at Lee River Road, Jericho Corners

The former Nay drug store in Riverside was purchased in 1948 by Hector Marcoux, who had previously operated what is today Jacobs’ Market on Park Street. 

Underhill Drug Store, probably a little before Hector Marcoux bought it - maybe 1920's

He remodeled the store, adding an up-to-date soda fountain and newsstand, and prescriptions were now sent to the Terminal Pharmacy in Burlington to be filled.  He also converted the upstairs rooms, the former Masonic Temple, into living quarters.  [When the Masonic Temple came to Jericho from Essex in 1882, they were located on the upper floor of the Home Market building in Jericho Corners until it burned in 1901.  They then moved to rooms above Nay’s Drug Store in Riverside, only to be burned out in the great fire in 1906.  They moved into the rooms above the new Nay’s store after it was rebuilt, and remained there until moving to the former Baptist Church in Jericho Corners in 1929, where they have remained since.]  The drug store was sold to Mr. Agius in 1953, and he converted the drug store area into the Underhill Restaurant, which he operated for a short time before selling to Mr. Snow.  He ran the restaurant, as well as living with his family in the rooms on the upper floor, for about one and one-half years.  It was then sold to Bruce Ward, who operated it as Ward’s Luncheonette, before converting the building to apartments about 1965.

Hector Marcoux calendar/thermometer.  The calendar is built into the back, and would have been folded down, except it was never used, and is still on the back.

The Cabin Restaurant building at 36 Route 15 was originally built in the 1930s by Crosset Shonio as a showroom where he could display and sell products from his woodenware business, which he conducted in the former Jericho Granite Co. sheds on the site.  

Cabin Restaurant, 36 Route 15, Jericho Corners

After that business closed, the building sat unused for a time, until being remodeled and converted into a restaurant by Archie Powell in 1948.  About a year later, it was purchased by Martin Powell, and over the next few years, the restaurant was continued by several owners, including Mr. and Mrs. Sam Tash, Mrs. Maude Carter, Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Burke, and finally George and Abbie Rice.  They continued the operation until the end of 1963; the building was then converted into a home.

Joe’s Drive-In Snack Bar was started in May 1950 by Joe Rotunda, Jr., and has continued in business every summer since that time.  In the early 1960s, it was known for a time as Joe’s Dairy Bar.  

Joe's Dairy Bar, c1960  You can see just a bit of his father's store on the left.

Some specialties include homemade French fries, homemade spaghetti sauce, and chili, and they make their own freshly ground hamburger every day.  In 1991, the snack bar was torn down, and a completely new building was erected to replace it.  For a time in the early 1990s, they operated Take-A-Break Caterers, and in 1998, they also operated a snack bar at the Lake Iroquois beach in Hinesburg.  Since Joe’s death in 2010, the snack bar has been carried on by his wife, Marilyn Kozlowski.  For many years, Joe and Marilyn spent the winters in Florida, as memorialized by Tracy Campbell Pearson in her book Where Does Joe Go?  Joe’s Snack Bar is one of the most widely known places in Jericho and is often used as a reference point for giving directions.  

The Alpine Restaurant was started in 1977 by Al and Vera Soucek at 273 VT Route 15.  By the end of 1979, they were advertising their New Year’s Eve Gourmet Dinner.  They also made and sold Alpine Sauce, their special steak sauce.  The restaurant operated until 1982 when the building was purchased by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.  It has been used as their church since that time.

A building was erected at 38 Park Street by Dan Girard where he operated the Casual Corner Restaurant and Lounge from August 1984 until early 1986.  

After the Flower Mill florist shop at 30 Route 15 closed, the building was converted to a bakery and coffee shop by Kim Evans and opened in the fall of 1999 as The Village Cup.  She operated it until selling it to Steve Burke in November 2008.  Mr. Burke upgraded and expanded the kitchen, as well as updated the dining area and added a wrap-around deck.  He expanded the hours, adding dinner and a Sunday brunch.  Two years later, he opened Caroline’s Fine Dining in the main house, while the Village Cup continued in the former garage space.  Unfortunately, Caroline’s was a victim of the Village Cup’s success, so in March 2013 Caroline’s and the Village Cup closed, and after renovations, the businesses were combined and re-opened that April as Fields Restaurant by Burke and executive chef Jonathan Gilman.  They offered moderately priced entrees featuring as much seasonal local food as possible, including local beef and fresh vegetables.  In November 2013, the restaurant was sold to Kevin Cummings of Underhill.  Mr. Cummings has been in the restaurant business all his life, having owned nine Howard Johnson and Ground Round restaurants at one time, and has owned Rosie’s in Middlebury for 28 years.  He renamed the restaurant Jericho Café & Tavern, (now often known simply as JCaT) and, along with his son-in-law Chris Dorman, offers fine casual dining or fine comfort food.

In August 1985, the east end of the Nadeau Lumber building at 249 Route 15 became home to Mountain High Pizza Pie.  

Nadeau Lumber & Mountain High Pizza Pie, 1991

This was started by Perry and Melinda Williams, who brought the idea from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where another Mountain High Pizza Pie is located (along with a third in Alaska, although neither are affiliated with the one in Jericho).  After about two years, Perry and his wife decided they didn’t care for the business and sold it to Lisa Williams (no relation).  In 1991, Kyle Hibbard started working for Lisa, and in March 1996, he and his mother Bonnie Hibbard bought the business.  They operated it until February 4, 2014, when it was sold to Josh, Carlene, and Paul Metruk, who continue to offer pizzas as well as grinders, salads, ice cream, and other goodies.  As the businesses in the complex were reconfigured, Mountain High has now moved across the parking lot into a corner of the large storage building on the property.

What had been the hen house on the former Carpenter farm at 239 Route 15 was converted to commercial space as part of the property’s development as Jericho East.  Alternative Energy Associates opened in this building in April 1977.  Starting in 1982, they also operated the Jericho Beverage Store, a state liquor agency, at the same location.  The business operated until the fall of 1984.  Starting in January 1985, this space was converted to a restaurant.  It was first operated by Alan and Danielle Petrie as The Restaurant at Jericho East until the spring of 1987.  Emma’s Restaurant, operated by Carolyn Tandy, opened in the space on October 22, 1988.  She specialized in German food and wine.  The restaurant was sold to Daniel Lacroix, an instructor at the New England Culinary Institute in July 1994. He continued it under the same name, but since he was from Paris, he offered French food and a fine dining experience.  In June 1996, the restaurant changed hands again, becoming LaCucina, with an Italian theme, offering pizza and spaghetti, operated by Dennis Mackey and Richard Lefebrve, who had previously operated a restaurant by the same name in Complex 159 in Essex Junction.  In conjunction with the restaurant, they also operated LaCucina Restaurant Caterers.

This iteration of the restaurant was closed in the summer of 1998 by the IRS, but the seized equipment was soon purchased by Joan Ladouceur, who operated it as the Ladouceur Family Restaurant through 2003, featuring family-style meals at family-friendly prices.  From 2003 to 2004, the restaurant was operated as Uncle Jim’s by Glenn and Ellie Martin.  It then closed for two weeks in late March/early April 2004 and reopened as Old Yankee Restaurant, still operated by the Martins.  In 2005 it was continued under the name The Old Yankee by Amy Little of Underhill, who operated it for the next five years.  In August 2010, the restaurant was leased to Paul and Roberta Gillespie, who had previously operated the Brick House Bakery and the Flour Shop bakery & café in Underhill Flats.  They operated it as The Hungry Lion until its final closure in March 2013, after operating for over 28 years.

Hungry Lion restaurant at Jericho East

The Jericho East Snack Bar, started in May 1989 by Ray and Barbara Magee, was operated from a trailer located on the east side of the lower parking lot at the Jericho Plaza at 213 Route 15.  

Kate’s Food Truck is a snack bar that opened briefly at the end of the 2020 season at 261 Route 15 and was open for the full season in 2021, with a typical snack bar menu.  

Gary Irish


View Part IV: Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill, Vt. : Fire Destroys Landmarks.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill, Vt. Accommodations Late 1800s to present

Guest post and photos by Gary Irish 

Edited and formated by Bernie Paquette


Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill, Vt.                                        Part II: Accommodations

Businesses transitioned into what we know today as bed and breakfasts. 

The loss of both the Beach House at the Corners and the Dixon House in Riverside marked the beginning of a transitional period in local accommodations.  As mentioned in the previous article, the Folsoms continued the hotel business in the Corners in the house located at 2 Plains Road for a short time. 


In Riverside, a new hotel was built in 1893 by Edward Sinclair, an architect and building contractor, at what is today 389 Route 15.  But while this did serve the area as a hotel, it is likely there was another reason for Mr. Sinclair to build it as well.  The various features of the building, including decorative porches and turrets, were said to have been included by Mr. Sinclair as examples of what he could provide to people interested in his services as a building contractor!  The hotel was operated by Ed and his wife Ruth until his death in 1933, although by the 1920s it was only in operation from May 1st to November 15th.


By the early 1900s, people were able to travel longer distances by train, and automobiles were replacing horses, so in most cases, there was no longer a need for the hotels of earlier years.  But there was still the need to accommodate people coming to the area as tourists, and tourist homes or guest houses, somewhat similar to today’s bed and breakfasts, were beginning to pop up.  

Fair View House, River Road, Riverside.  This is one of those instances where the letterhead says "Underhill" but it is actually in Jericho.

One of the earliest of these was the Fairview Lodge, located in the brick house at 37 River Road, just west of Park Street, and operated by Frank S. Jackson in the early 1900s.  Thomas and Carrie Bruce, who moved to Jericho in 1905, also ran this business, first as Fair View House, and later as Riverside Inn.  They also ran an auto livery in connection with this business.


Fair View House, River Road, Riverside.  


In the early 1920s, as the U.S. government was establishing their proposed military camp and artillery range near Underhill Center, local residents formed the Mt. Mansfield Civic Club, to assist the military authorities and to be of assistance for the reception, comfort, and entertainment of the soldiers who would be in town during June, July, and August, and further to accommodate relatives and friends who would likely be visiting.  


A canvas was made of both Underhill Center and the Flats, resulting in over 100 rooms being available if needed, along with parking camps for automobiles.  This spilled over into the Riverside section of Jericho as well.  Including Mrs. F.P. Tillison, Mrs. Eunice Hackett, Mrs. J.D. Santimore, and Mrs. E.S. Sinclair's hotel, this provided 23 rooms at the Flats, with an additional 47 rooms in private homes.  In doing this, it brought to light the opportunity to advertise the attractive scenic features of the towns for the tourist and summer guests.  


One of these in Riverside was the Central House at 6 Park Street, operated by Mr. & Mrs. J.D. Santamore.  Mrs. Santamore also operated the telephone switchboard, located in their home.  In those days, if you wanted to make a phone call, you picked up the receiver and "rang central" on your crank phone; this gave rise to the name of their business.  They also advertised it as being "Telephone Central".  They offered meals, lodgings, and lunches (the latter probably for people hiking on Mt. Mansfield, or perhaps going on a picnic), along with ice cream, soft drinks, candies, and cigars.  


Another business was the Way Side Inn, operated by Mrs. F.P. Tillison, which offered among other things pure maple products, fresh eggs, cigarettes, with chicken dinners a specialty.  


At the upper end of the Flats was the Humphrey Homestead, by this time being operated by Eunice Hackett, daughter of Amos Humphrey.  If you wanted to "leave the jazz of the busy life", she offered comfortable beds and airy rooms, along with afternoon tea served on a spacious lawn or on open porches attended by attractive country maids, and of course food - chicken dinners, waffles with pure maple syrup, pies, cakes, doughnuts, garden vegetables, and country milk.  


A somewhat different stop was the Fern Crest Camp, operated by Mrs. L.C. Fowler, who offered a comfortably furnished cottage in a desirable location (although I have not been able to determine its exact location) for parties wanting quiet and seclusion, but with easy access to stores, R.R. Station, post office and bus lines and only five miles from the base of Mt. Mansfield and three miles from the U.S. Artillery Range.  However, if meals were desired, they had to be obtained "nearby".  


At 3 River Road in Riverside was located the Deerhead tea room and gift shop operated in connection with the Riverside Filling Station by Mrs. Lillian Cross.  She offered overnight accommodations for a limited number of guests, along with a first-class dining room offering home cooking.  

This photo probably dates to the mid-1930s.  The house on the right is what was the Deerhead Tea Room.  The garage was started by Will Cross, and later operated by his son Earl.  The house was where Will and his wife Lillian lived, and where she operated the tea room.  In the very right edge of the picture, you can just see a hint of another house - that is where Earl Cross lived.  And if you look on the left of the picture, under the Ford sign, you can see the B&L railroad tracks, just approaching the Route 15 crossing.


A 1920s vintage map contains an advertisement for the Chapin House “six miles east of Essex Jct. on Route 117.”  

This would be what we know today as the Chittenden-Hasbrook house at 267 Route 117.  They advertised “a quiet, restful place in a beautiful maple grove, large airy rooms, well furnished, modern plumbing, cold mountain spring water, excellent home-cooked food, and plenty of it.”  There were two good golf courses, 4 and 11 miles distant, and all of this could be had for $4.00 per day or $20.00 per week, for both board and room. 


These types of businesses transitioned into what we know today as bed and breakfasts.  After the Hotel Sinclair closed, Mrs. Sinclair maintained it as her residence until she sold it to Mr. & Mrs. Clifford Fuller in 1952.  They operated it as a nursing home variously called The Towers or Rest Haven until about 1964, and then it became a private residence until the 1980s when it was converted to the Sinclair Inn Bed & Breakfast by Jane and Scott Smith.  


In 1989, it was operated as Sinclair Towers Bed and Breakfast by Alfred and Blanche Royce.  The bed & breakfast was operated by Andrew and Jeanne Buchanan from 1993 until 2002.  It was then operated as the Sinclair Inn Bed & Breakfast again by Nancy Ames and Jim Svendsen.  In 2003, it was renamed Sinclair Inn, operated at that time by Sally and Bruce Gilbert-Smith.  It was then operated by Don and Nimmie Huber until August 2013, when it was sold to Thomas Matteoli and Daniel Klopfstein, who are continuing the bed and breakfast. 

Hotel Sinclair in Riverside, now the Sinclair Inn

At least by 1962, Fred and Grace Fenn were operating Mountain View Tourist Home in their home at 143 VT Route 15, which continued until 1965.  An interesting aside about this home – although I have not thoroughly researched this, it appears that this was a “kit” home, perhaps from Aladdin Homes of Bay City, Michigan.

Former Fred Fenn home, 143 Route 15


Eaton House Bed & Breakfast was operated by David and Suzanne Eaton in their home at 592 Brown’s Trace from 1981 until the mid-1990s.  For a time in the early 1980s, they, along with Todd and Sheila Varnum, also operated Vermont Bed and Breakfast, a bed and breakfast referral service.


Milliken’s B&B was started at 65 VT Route 15 by Walter and Jean Marie Milliken about 1983, operating for about five years. 


The Saxon Inn on South Orr Road was started by Howard and Anne Reeves in December 1985, as a conference center and bed and breakfast.  It was sold to Sam Piper, who also started Jericho Metal Works in 1992, manufacturing nails and other metal products, including games using those nails.  The business closed about 1994.


Henry M. Field House bed and breakfast was started about 1991, by Mary Beth Perilli and Terry Horan at 73 VT Route 15, and operated only a few years.


Bechard’s Mill Brook Bed & Breakfast, operated by Robert and Claudia Bechard, opened in October 1992, at 2 Field’s Lane, continuing until the late 1990s.


Mrs. B’s Bed and Breakfast opened June 10, 1998, operated by Frances and Steve Boucher in their home at 189 VT Route 15.  

Mrs. B's Barn, now the Unitarian Church, 195 Route 15, 2002

Later that summer they opened Mrs. B’s Gift Barn, a gift shop offering Vermont-made products, gifts, including apparel, pewter, pottery, and antiques in their nearby barn.  Their first guest was Gerhard Raener, an Austrian tourist who was driving along Route 15 taking a scenic route from New York on his way to Maine when he noticed Mr. Boucher hanging out the B&B sign, and after stopping to inquire why the business was not in his guidebook, found that it was their opening day.  They operated from May to early January each season for about six years.


The 1804 Potter House at 2 Plains Road was operated by Mike Mumley from about 1997 to 2009, in the same house where the Folsoms had operated their hotel a century before.

The house at 2 Plains Road where the Folsoms moved after the hotel in Jericho Corners burned, and where Mike Mumley a century later had a B&B.

Suite Mountain View B&B, located at 174 Plains Road, was operated by Jason and Veronica Stubbs for 7 years starting about 2007.

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Next, view Part III,  Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill, Vt. 

 Restaurants 1930 to present.