Burlington, Vermont experienced a a building boom and population rise in the years preceeding and following the Civil War. The coming of the railroad coupled with a rise in industrialization brought prosperity to Burlington and Winooski Village. A great need for worker housing for day laborers at the woolen and cotton mills, led many Burlington residents to invest in rental properties. New transportation routes such as East Avenue, a former cowpath, became a link between Colchester Avenue (the turnpike to Winooski) and agricultural lands south of the City. The University ofVermont also grew in acreage and enrollment and several students are listed in the Burlington City Directories as boarding with families near the mills.