Vermont Barn Census

Written by Tonya Loveday, UVM Historic Preservation Program

The picturesque town of Shelburne, Vermont was charted in 1763 and named after the second earl of Shelburne, William Fitzmaurice Petty (1737-1805), who then served as the president of the board of trade and plantations of the British government.1 Originally a post town in the western part of Chittenden County, Shelburne contains 14,272 acres, exclusive of its bays and ponds. The town borders Burlington to the north, St. George to the east, Charlotte to the south, and Lake Champlain to the west.2 The town's landscape is diverse and lush, attributed to its location on Lake Champlain. Abundant natural resources and an ideal location made it possible for Shelburne to develop from a small settlement to a thriving and diverse agricultural town.

Shelburne's original landscape was principally timbered with hardwood. This feature, in addition to the town's location in relation to Lake Champlain and Canada, aided in development of the town's initial primary industry - lumber. Most early settlers were employed in providing lumber for the Canadian market.3 With various falls across the landscape, residents took advantage of the ideal source of water power for their early mills. Set up by Vermont co-founder Ira Allen, the La Platte River Falls sawmill was erected in 1785 in response to Shelburne's increasing population and the success of the lumber industry.4 The mills that were built along Shelburne Falls became central to the town's early development. The 1857 Wallings Map shows that Shelburne Falls  was one of the two most densely population town centers, home to a saw mill and a grid mil, among other agricultural buildings and businesses.5 Although the industry eventually declined, it aided in the development of Shelburne's next venture with transportation.

The growth of Shelburne's economy coincided with an increase in population. A census taken in 1791 reveals that Shelburne's population at the time was a mere thirty-two individuals. This number steadily increased in subsequent years, reaching 154 residents in 1820.6 During this time, the Shelburne Shipyard began building steamboats on its yards on the bay stretching out into Lake Champlain.7 Still in operation today, the shipyard is one of the Lake Champlain's oldest boat-building facilities. The boats transported both people and goods between Vermont, New York, and Canada. In 1820, the Lake Champlain Steamboat Company moved its operations to Shelburne, later joined by the Champlain Transportation Company.8 The advanced technology of steam power instrumentally aided local businesses. Shelburne soon began experiencing additional economic booms, beginning with “the sheep mania” of the late thirties and early forties.9

The exponential growth in Vermont's sheep industry marked the state's agricultural history in the 1840s. Shelburne's population tripled between 1820 and 1840, yet the increasing number of sheep overshadowed the expanding human population.10 By 1836 there were sections of Vermont, including the Champlain Valley, that were seemingly covered in sheep. Several towns in Chittenden County housed upwards of 10,000 sheep,11 including Shelburne, which documented a total of 17,636 sheep in 1840.12 Despite the Panic of 1837, which brought a reduction in the price of wool, the profit margin was enough to cause a continued increase in the number of sheep being brought to Vermont.13 Thirty-three local woolen mills developed in Vermont, processing wool from farmers in towns like Shelburne into finished products. During this time, it appeared that the sheep industry would continue to be a vital and permanent part of the northern New England economy. Yet, the industry had already reached its peak around 1840, and was about to decline as rapidly as it had grown.14

The state of Vermont experienced a sixty-four percent decline in sheep population between 1840 and 1870.15 The 17,636 sheep recorded in Shelburne in 1840 dropped to 5,449 in 1850, and 713 in 1860,16 making the local decline rate between 1840 and 1860 nearly ninety-six percent. There were two factors that caused such as astonishing and rapid end to the sheep industry: the lowering of the protective tariff on wool in the early 1840s, and most significantly, the increase in wool produced in the western United States. Wool produced in the West was cheaper due to labor costs, its proximity to various western markets, and because of increasing transportation technology.17 Compared to the 36,677 pounds of wool Shelburne farmers produced in 1840, only 2,659 pounds were recorded in 1860.18 The sheep industry abruptly ended in Shelburne as it did across New England, creating an opportunity for local farmers to become involved in various other agricultural productions.

As the sheep boom ended in the mid-1800s, the apple orchard industry was proving to be yet another unsuccessful production. Of the $447,760 cash value of Shelburne farms in 1850, the value of orchard products accounted for only $4,290.19 Many farmers found that their fruit yielded little or no profit and decided to cut down large quantities of trees so that the land might be used for other, more profitable activities.20 The success of apple orchards in Vermont began with the start of the twentieth century, which experienced a decline in logging, farm abandonment, and regrowth of much of the landscape that had been altered for the sheep and lumber industries. The return of the colorful fall foliage prompted a rise in tourism, specifically during the fall season. Whereas apples were being grown primarily for domestic purposes, tourism coincided with an increase in growing, transportation, and storage innovations. Vermonters planted over 285,000 apple trees during the early 1910s and mid-1920s. Areas along the Lake Champlain shoreline, including Shelburne, began developing orchards that finally proved to be successful.21

The development of a Vermont tourist industry additionally aided the maple syrup business in Shelburne during the early twentieth century. The amount of maple sugar produced in the town between 1840 and 1860 averaged about 1,200 pounds, with no significant decline or increase recorded.22 A tariff was enacted in 1890 in an effort to stimulate the growth of the sugar industry in the United States.23 The new regulation offered a bounty for processed maple sugar, not maple syrup, and therefore many Vermonters found it cost-efficient to sell their maple in syrup form.24 Vermont maple syrup continues to serve as a symbol of the state's agricultural, yet most of Shelburne's maple industry is visible only through the sugar houses scattered across the town.

Across Chittenden County, general farming was the primary occupation for Shelburne residents, and continues to be an important aspect of the local economy today. Of the 239 people recorded as living in Shelburne in 1882, 192 individuals held occupations related to farming, primarily dairy farming.25 The number of milk cows nearly doubled from 377 in 1850 to 697 in 1860.26 By 1945, there were 2,043 cows and heifers over the age of two years old documented.27 Although the dairy industry has become more of a large-scale, commercial production, many dairy farms still exist in Shelburne.

Shelburne's agricultural history reflects the trends of much of Chittenden County and the state of Vermont. Different periods in the town's history are marked by agricultural booms and busts, yet Shelburne has managed to maintain itself as an agricultural town into the twenty-first century, holding on to many of Vermont's signature traditions.