The Burlington, Vermont Street Department exhibited considerable concern over this particular section of South Prospect Street. According to the Superintendent of Streets in 1931, “The sub-soil condition with quick-sand underlying the clay would allow traffic to break up the surface…and result in very expensive repair work each year…it seemed best to construct a new pavement rather than waste any more money on repairs.”[1] Indeed, in 1929, a mere two years prior, the Cliff Street intersection area of South Prospect Street was included in an extensive pavement construction project; the total cost of the project was $3,806.71.[2] The 1931 hot-mix asphalt construction included the following: a widening of the road; a layer of stone base added to the widened areas; new gutters and curbs; a small amount of crushed stone, which is visible in the photograph, layered the road; asphalt binder completed the process.[3] The total cost of the 1931 construction was $5,300.33.

On the left-hand side behind the trees, a portion of Slade Hall is visible. Slade Hall, a Colonial/Georgian Revival designed by McKim, Mead and White, was constructed in 1928 for the University of Vermont. It stands 2.5 stories and exhibits load-bearing brick construction.[4] Slade Hall was initially used as a dormitory solely for women.[5] As of November of 2006, the University of Vermont still uses the building as a dormitory. However, it is now co-ed and used as environmental special interest housing.[6]

On the right-hand side behind the large evergreen tree, a large two-story home with a hipped roof and entrance portico is visible. In 1931, and years prior, the home address is 409 South Prospect Street.[7] The immediate area surrounding the structure is not visible in the 1926 Sanburn Insurance Map of Burlington. However, the structure is visible in the 1938 update of the Sanburn Insurance Map. The Vermont Historic Sites and Structures Survey for South Prospect Street states the home was built in 1925 to accommodate a burgeoning white collar work force.[8] In 1928, a more likely date of construction, Burlington City Directories confirm its appearance; the home is registered to an Edward G. Asselin.

[1] City of Burlington, Vermont, Sixty-seventh Annual Report of the City of Burlington, Vermont: For the Year Ended December 31, 1931 (Burlington, VT: Lane Press Inc, 1931) ,  219.

[2] Ibid, 206.

[3] Ibid, 221.

[4] Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, Vermont Historic Sites and Structures Survey. Burlington: South Prospect Street, 1979. (Found at the University of Vermont Library, Special Collections.)

[5] David J. Blow, Historical Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods: Volume II, ed. Lilian Baker Carlisle (Burlington, VT: Queen City Printers Inc., 1997), 161.

[6] The University of Vermont, “A Family’s Guide to Residential Housing 2006/2007,” http://www.uvm.edu/~rlweb/parents/family_guide
/familys_guide_reslife.pdf (accessed November 6, 2006), 9.

[7] 1931 Burlington City Directory (Springfield, MA: H.A. Manning Company, 1931), 421.

[8] Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, Vermont Historic Sites and Structures Survey. Burlington: South Prospect Street, 1979. (Found at the University of Vermont Library, Special Collections.)

Slade Hall and 409 South Prospect Street, both visible in the 1931 photograph, remain. In the background, a large pine tree, located at the same approximate location as the 1931 version, can be seen. The low stone wall has also survived. Power lines still line the right-hand side of the street. Both latitudinal and longitudinal cracks in the road are evident.