Pomeroy Hall

489 Main Street

Photo credit: Katie Briscoe

The complex known today as “Pomeroy Hall” is made up of three main blocks which face the corner of University Place and Main Street. The first, constructed in 1829 was built to house the University of Vermont’s Medical College. [i] The brick structure, which faces the southern end of the University Green, is three stories high and three bays wide with a low-pitched hipped roof. Its front façade is dominated by a brick-covered stair tower which projects off the main structure. The second structure, constructed in 1858, is a “narrower brick section with a gable roof sheathed in standing-seam metal.” [ii] The third section, constructed in 1997, is three stories high and of similar shape to the front section. An entrance hall, constructed of glass and metal, separates the second and third blocks. [iii]

The Medical School closed in 1836 and was left vacant until the University of Vermont purchased the building in 1839. [iv] The Medical School re-opened in 1853 and continued for over thirty years. The original two and a half story Federal style building constructed in 1829 was extensively altered in 1858 to enlarge the structure and impose Italianate style details. [v] After the University of Vermont combined with the State and Agricultural College in 1865 after the passage of the Morrill Bill, 489 Main Street became part of the Agricultural Experiment Station. [vi] Charles Allen wrote in 1905 that “an experiment farm, now comprising about 130 acres situated on the terrace east of the College, was purchased, and the present Experiment Farm Buildings were erected in 1891.” [vii] A barn was built behind the building against the eastern boundary in 1888 and a greenhouse was added in 1900. [viii]

In 1910 the building was still used as the Agricultural Experiment Station with Cassius Peck as the Superintendent of the State Agricultural College Farm. [ix] In 1915 the only residents of 489 Main Street were Sedgwick A. Rand, a Janitor at Morrill Hall, and his wife Julia. [x] In the Burlington Directories from 1935 to 1951 the building was listed as the Experiment Station Annex for UVM. [xi] In 1952, the building was renamed Pomeroy Hall after Dr. John Pomeroy, the founder of the University of Vermont Medical School. [xii] From 1952 to 1974, Pomeroy Hall had a variety of uses including the Chittenden County Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Commission, Experimental Station Annex, and the UVM Department of Speech. [xiii] Pomeroy Hall is now used by the Department of Communication Sciences and the E.M. Luse Center for Communication:  Speech, Language, and Hearing.

  Text by Katie Briscoe, 2011