St. George's Catholic Church

Postcard, courtesy of University of Vermont Special Collections
Historic view (c.1910) of Town Highway 25, looking east: St. George's is 3rd building to the left

 

Statement of Significance

St. George's Catholic Church maintains a distinctive association with important patterns of history in the town of Bakersfield as well as the state of Vermont. Originally built as a private academy, the building, also known as South Academy, reflected the desire of the local community to provide higher education for its children and to attract students from surrounding areas. South Academy was built in 1840 and fared well until competition grew from other academies in the area. Funding was lost, the population of the town declined, and the need for this academy lessened. At the same time, an influx of French Canadians and of Irish immigrants created a demand for a Catholic Church in the area. In 1867, the Catholic Diocese purchased the first floor of South Academy and began to hold Catholic mass. The entire building was purchased in 1885 by the Catholic Diocese, and renamed St. George's Catholic Church. Extensive renovations to the interior, including the removal of the second floor to create a large sanctuary space, adjusted the physical space to accommodate the changing activities in the building. These changes reflected a pattern of activity in Vermont at this time, when an increased demand for Catholic churches spurred the renovation of different town buildings to suit their new use. St. George's renovations around the turn of the century reflect the common use of the Gothic Revival style by the Vermont Catholic Diocese at the turn of the century. The building has been used as a Catholic Church continuously from that time until 1996, when the building was donated to the Bakersfield Historical Society. St. George's Catholic Church exemplifies many of the characteristics of vernacular Vermont churches described in the Multiple Property Documentation Form entitled "Religious Buildings, Sites and Structures in Vermont."

Bakersfield is located in Franklin County, which is in the northwest portion of Vermont, in close proximity to the Canadian border. The village of Bakersfield lies along Vermont Route 108 on a north-south axis. The long, narrow distribution of the village has created several disputes throughout the town's history. Early town records indicate disagreement over the location of a town hall. A group of townspeople wanted the town hall to be located in the northern portion of the village while others wished it to be located in the south. A location near the geographical center of the town was settled upon. Similar disputes over the location of a town school resulted in the formation of several school districts within the town. Despite this internal conflict, Bakersfield prospered as a rural community in the early part of the nineteenth century, and the town grew from a population of 36 to 200 between 1800 and 1830.

Bakersfield was settled in the 1790s by families from Massachusetts and Connecticut, and it is clear that these families maintained a high interest in the education of their children. In the 1830s, the citizens of Bakersfield sought to create an institution of higher education for their community. In 1839, thirty-one citizens pledged money toward the construction of an academy building. It was at this time that the Bakersfield Association for the Promotion of Education was formed with the intention of creating a private academy in Bakersfield. The town entered a familiar regional dispute regarding the proposed location of the new academy. A southern site was ultimately decided upon as the location of the new academy.

Construction on the Greek Revival brick building that was to house the academy started in 1840. The building was nearly completed when Jacob Spaulding, a graduate of Dartmouth, was employed as the Academyís principal. Spaulding's wife acted as preceptress, and Mr. E.D. Shattuck was employed as an assistant. For the school year of 1842, these three staff members were in charge of 122 pupils, 54 of which listed Bakersfield as their residence. The Academy was called the Bakersfield Academical Institution, however, the townspeople of Bakersfield later adopted the name of South Academy for the building.

The Methodist church occupied the first floor of South Academy from its construction until 1854 when a separate Methodist Church was constructed in Bakersfield. The Bakersfield Academical Institution occupied the second floor throughout this period. The third (attic) floor was completed in 1845 and was used as classroom space for the Academy.

The Bakersfield Academical Institution fared well during the first decade of its existence. The staff increased from the original three persons to 13 in 1846. The number of students also increased and reached a high of 361 in 1850. The entire population of Bakersfield for that year was 1,543. Clearly, the students of the Academy affected the size and character of Bakersfield.

Despite its initial success, Bakersfield Academical Institution began to decline due to several factors. Although the southern faction of the town initially prevailed when deciding the location of the Bakersfield Academical Institution, Bakersfield Academy (soon after called Bakersfield North Academy) was constructed in 1844 in the northern section of Bakersfield to meet the demands of the northern faction. These schools competed with each other for students, and each attracted students from all over the northeast, including Canada, New England and New York. Although North Academy had obtained financial support from the Troy Conference of Methodists, and South Academy did not receive outside support, the latter consistently attracted a greater number of students. In 1852, Jacob Spaulding left the South Academy to direct another academy in Barre, Vermont. Competition with increasing numbers of public schools harmed both private academies of Bakersfield. The start of the Civil War in 1861 certainly must have affected enrollment in these academies, as many young men left home to fight in the war. The population of many small towns in Vermont decreased throughout the mid-nineteenth century and this trend was reflected in Bakersfield.

In response to the decline of the Bakersfield Academical Institution, the third floor of South Academy was leased to Eagle Lodge No. 67 of Bakersfield in 1864. In 1867, the first floor and belfry were purchased by the Roman Catholic Diocese. South Academy was being used as a school only intermittently at this point.

Despite the decline of both the North and South Academies in Bakersfield, the town continued to hold private education in high regard. In 1879, Brigham Academy was built from an endowment left to Bakersfield by Peter Bent Brigham. Brigham was born in Bakersfield and left for Boston, where he became a wealthy businessman. When he died in 1877, he left money to his home town to be used for a private academy, thus prolonging the tradition of private education in Bakersfield.
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