Maple Street
By the 1850's, Maple Street had been laid from where the ravine
crossed Church Street, running two blocks up the hill to Union,
and had several houses already built on it.[1] A street was cut
from Willard to Prospect, but there were no houses on this upper
stretch. Both sections of Maple at this time served more as a
means of climbing the hill than as a place to build homes.[2]
Burlington expanded greatly after the Civil War. The lumber trade,
industrialization, and the growth of Church Street as a business
district caused great pressures for housing in any neighborhood
within walking distance of downtown or the waterfront.[3] The
railroad was relocated, the ravine was filled in, and Maple Street
was made whole all the way from the lake to Prospect Street. By
the turn of the century, the entire street was filled up to Willard
Street. The land above Willard Street was not developed until
the mid-twentieth century.[4]
[1] Historic Sites and Structures Survey, Chittenden
County, Burlington VT, July 1977. CD-ROM Reference HP-002, Disk
7, created 7/22/02.
[2] Historic Sites and Structures Survey, Chittenden County, Burlington
VT, July 1977. CD-ROM Reference HP-002, Disk 7, created 7/22/02.
[3] The Burlington Book. Historic Preservation Program, Department
of History, University of Vermont, Historic Preservation Program,
1978. p. 10.
[4] Historic Sites and Structures Survey, Chittenden County, Burlington
VT, July 1977. CD-ROM Reference HP-002, Disk 7, created 7/22/02.
236 Maple Street is a two-and-a-half story Italianate style
house with a stone foundation built ca. 1870. The original use
for this building was residence[1] and is now used as apartments.
Built after 1869, this building is shown on the 1877 Burlington
Birds Eye Map. The first known resident was F.J. Hender, a retired
dentist and farmer, in 1880[2] and his widow was here into the
90's. The widow Mrs. Smith Wright made this her home from 1905-1917.[3]
It was converted into apartments in the 1960's.[4]
[1] Adele Cramer, Vermont Division for Historic
Preservation. Historic Sites and Structures Survey, Chittenden
County, Burlington VT, July 1977. CD-ROM Reference HP-002, Disk
7, created 7/22/02.
[2] Adele Cramer, Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.
Historic Sites and Structures Survey, Chittenden County, Burlington
VT, July 1977. CD-ROM Reference HP-002, Disk 7, created 7/22/02.
[3] Burlington City Government 1905-06 (Burlington VT: Free Press
Association, 1905), 279, Burlington and Winooski Vermont Directory
1917 (Greenfield Mass: H.A. Manning Co., 1917), 290.
[4] Adele Cramer, Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.
Historic Sites and Structures Survey, Chittenden County, Burlington
VT, July 1977. CD-ROM Reference HP-002, Disk 7, created 7/22/02.