Intersection of Main and Church Streets


Louis L. McAllister, September 1929
Facing East

Sara Casten, October 2006
Facing East, 180642166E 4926281N UTM

This picture documents the paving project; taken in September 1929 it shows the street before it received asphalt paving. 

Visible on left is the Brownell & Hathaway building.  The Burlington Business School occupied the upper floors of the Brownell & Hathaway.  The school later moved and renamed itself Champlain College as it remains today. The ground floor housed the Burlington Saving and Loan when the McAllister photo was taken.[1]   

Visible on the far left is Lodge Hall, and across from that is the Strong Building which also housed the Strong Theater.  According to the 1930 city directory the Lodge Hall was referred to as the Hayward Block and all of its commercial spaces were listed as vacant.[2]  Then in the 1931 directory, it is listed as the Parkhill Building with many new offices and businesses in residence.[3]  Most likely Lodge Hall was demolished and the Parkhill was built in its place, it had been destroyed by fire all of its occupancies would not have been listed as vacant in the 1930 city directory.  The Strong Building, the prominent building on the right side of the photo was built in 1905 and stood until 1971, when it was destroyed by fire.[4] 

 

[1] Blow 195 & Burlington City Directories, H.A. Manning, 1929 &1943

[2] Burlington City Directories, H.A. Manning, 1930

[3] Burlington City Directories, H.A. Manning, 1931

[4] Blow 192

The Parkhill Building still stands today and now houses street level businesses such as Mirabelle’s Café, Burlington Guitar and Amp and Mr. Mike’s Pizza, and leases office space on the subsequent stories.  The Brownell & Hathaway building still stands today and now houses one of Burlington’s hot spots, Nectar’s Lounge.  The live music hall received national recognition when the jam band Phish became popular the 1990s.  In the Strong building’s place is Court House Plaza, built in 1986; however in the current photo it is blocked by a large deciduous tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return to Downtown Burlington, Vermont: Main Street

Historic Burlington Project
Depression Era Streetscapes: Old North End | Burlington 1890 | Burlington 1877 | Burlington 1869 | Burlington 1853 | Burlington 1830
Produced by University of Vermont Historic Preservation Program graduate students in HP 206 Researching Historic Structures and Sites - Prof. Thomas Visser - in collaboration with UVM Landscape Change Program
Historic images courtesy of University of Vermont Library Special Collections, Louis L. McAllister Photograph Collection