This photo was taken in conjunction with the paving project that occurred in Burlington beginning in 1929 and ending in the later part of the 1930s.   While this photo is not dated, other parts of the Main Street Paving Project were, and one can deduce that this was taken around the same time.

According the David J. Blow’s Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods, the building facing Main Street is the Hitchcock House built in 1806 and all the remains today of the building is the shape and the hipped roof, which has probably been replaced.  Blow also said the building was remodeled after the Civil War in an Italianate style which remained until the 1930s.[1]   As you can see by the addition of the cupola and brackets the photograph depicts that remodeling. 

While the house was originally built as a private residence, by the late twenties and early thirties it was owned by the Palans’ family to run a small grocery.  According to the 1929 city directory George A. Palans ran the store and by 1933, his son Arthur had taken over the business.[2] 

[1] David J. Blow, Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods Vol. 2, (Burlington, VT: Chittenden County Historical Society, 1997) 207.   

[2] Burlington City Directories, H.A. Manning, 1929-1933

This picture was taken at the same corner of the street; it is easy to see the street has been widened because the building appears much farther away from the vantage point.  The cupola has been removed, and although Blow states the brackets were removed they are clearly visible in this photograph.  In 1991 Skirack bought the building to sell skiing equipment, and is still there today.  The new owners have added a handicap ramp, redesigned the windows, and extended the building; they have also taken out the front porches on both stories.      

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