70-72 South Winooski Ave
This six by two bay structure, which is now the home of Mailboxes Etc. in downtown Burlington, is another mystery. The building itself possesses strange dimensions which are quite unique within the city and is built primarily in the Federal style. The Sites and Structure survey dates it to circa 1850, based on their conclusion that the structure doesn't appear on the maps before 1853(13). If one examines the 1830 Ammi Young map, however, they discover that around that location there exists a rectangular structure on the order of this buildings approximate dimensions. This combine with the fact that there are some Federal remnants in the building's design could lead one to conclude that the building dates from the pre-1830 period. The building is definitly appears on the 1869 Beers map.
The structure recently underwent an extensive remodeling which prepared it for its transition into a commercial block. No further known evidence was discovered during this work, thus one has to rely upon known evidence, which in this case is very sparse. What is known is that the first recorded tenant of the building is Daniel Kern in 1865 and that it was inherited by his son Daniel Jr. in the 1870s. His widow lived there until her death in 1933 when the house was sold and divided into apartments(14). The building is easily identified on photographs dating back to the 1880s and most recently before the renovation was best known as the home of the Above Par Restaurant.