June 30, 1942, Louis L. McAllister

October 22, 2006, Brandee Wagner: 18064181E; 4924034N; 158ft.

Briggs Street became an official street of Burlington in 1891.  According to the annual city report for that year, it was “situated at the Ferguson & Scarff Addition” and “brought up to grade by the owners’ expense.”  The owners in this case being A.O. Ferguson and Charles W. Scarff.  Briggs Street was the separating street between the designated industrial and residential areas in the Ferguson & Scarff Addition in the South End of Burlington. 

The prominent structure in the foreground is a building associated with the Vermont Structural Steel Corporation.(1)  Prior to the Vermont Structural Steel Corporation’s long tenancy there, the building was occupied by the Burlington Shoe Company,(2) which became Lakeside Shoe Company in 1899, when it was purchased by the owner of a competing Burlington shoe manufacturing company.(3)  

With no directory listing for the address between 1903 and 1907, it can be assumed that the building stood vacant until the Vermont Structural Steel Corporation came in 1907.(4)  The clearstory seen in the McAllister photograph was added sometime between 1938 and 1942, as the 1942 Sanborn Map notes a five-foot addition along the roofline.  The addition of this clearstory may be speculated to have been in response to increased demand for steel due to World War II.

(1) Insurance Map of Burlington, VT (New York: Sanborn Insurance Company, 1919, 1926, 1938, 1942, 1960, 1978); Manning's Burlington & Winooski Directory for year 1907-1988 (Springfield H.A. Manning Co).

(2) Manning's Burlington & Winooski Directory for year 1892 (Springfield H.A. Manning Co).

(3) Manning's Burlington & Winooski Directory for year 1899 (Springfield H.A. Manning Co).

(4) Manning's Burlington & Winooski Directory for year 1907 (Springfield H.A. Manning Co).

It is unclear when the clearstory was removed from the building, but it is undoubtedly the same building seen in the McAllister photos.  The Vermont Structural Steel Corporation occupied the building up until 1988. (1) In 1992, the structures associated with the Vermont Structural Steel Corporation complex housed Burlington Sanitation and Flynn Avenue Scrap.  Prior to this, the buildings had been used primarily more and more as office space rather than manufacturing space.  This particularly can be seen in the 1960s, as the directories listed the Vermont Structural Steel Corporation’s office and other offices, including a real estate office, at this address. (2)

Currently, the building seen in the photograph remains connected to the rest of the original buildings that were part of the Vermont Structural Steel Corporation’s large complex.  Unfortunately, it is a victim of neglected maintenance and suffers from several broken windows and a rusty roof and walls.  Interestingly, Briggs Street still remains unpaved today. It is the only dirt and gravel street left in the Ferguson & Scarff Addition.

(1) Manning's Burlington & Winooski Directory for year 1988-1990 (Springfield H.A. Manning Co).

(2) Manning's Burlington & Winooski Directory for year 1960-1988 (Springfield H.A. Manning Co).

Next: Ferguson Avenue looking east from intersection with Briggs Street.

Back to: Ferguson & Scarff Addition Map.

Back to: Burlington, Vermont: South of Pearl Street & Colchester Avenue.