McAllister took this view of Church Street before the burning of the New Sherwood Hotel in 1940.  The most prominent buildings in this photo are those of the of the Union Block between #57 and #75.  These buildings, located in on the left side of the street, are of the Italianate bracketed style with cast iron lintels over all twenty-four bays on the second and third stories.  The center section of the Union Block, between #61 and #69, was built in 1860 by Edward Loomis and A.W. Allen.  In the spring of 1863 the remaining sections of the block on were constructed on either side.(1)

On the corner of Bank and Church Street is Beebe’s Drugs, formerly the R.B. Stearns Drug Company.  Mason Beebe came to Burlington from Swanton in 1904, and gained employment with the R.B. Stearns Drug Company, where he worked for one year before purchasing a share in the firm.  These were the days of Horatio Alger when young men could realize the dream of climbing the socioeconomic ladder.  So was the experience of Mason Beebe, who became the owner of the R.B. Stearns Drug Company in 1916, twelve years after his initial employment.(2)

(1) Blow, 154-155.

(20 Blow, 154-155.

Francis J. Kelley secured employment in the R.B. Stearns Drug Company in 1912, at the age of fourteen.  Mason Beebe was the manager of the establishment at that time.  When Beebe became the sole owner of the business, Kelley remained as pharmacist.  After Beebe’s death in 1931, the American dream was realized once more as Kelley purchased the business from Beebe’s estate the following year.(3)

The first two buildings of the Union Block still stand, however the two closer to Cherry Street have since been removed to make way for the Burlington Square Mall.

(3) Blow, 154-55.