When Johnson Street was cut through in 1888 a number of tenement structures were constructed. 1 This one is the largest of the tenements on Johnson Street; it appears on the 1890 Hopkins map of Burlington located at the corner of Johnson and Monroe Street. The Historic Sites and Structures Survey date the construction of this building to the 1890’s.2 It appears on the Hopkins map under the name L.M.Johnson. The Johnson family were a prominent family in Burlington during the 1880’s and 90’s. E.B. Johnson is responsible for the construction of most of the tenements on Johnson Street. Another Johnson, Elmore was a builder and contractor with the Johnson Brothers Company who helped build a tenement at 37-41 Peru Street. No one by the name L.M. Johnson appears in the 1890 Burlington City Directory.3 However, it is likely that this tenement was built by the Johnson family for whom the street was named.
The following list of tenants was compiled from the Burlington City Directories 1883-1893:4
#1 Johnson St.
1889-90 the Worthen Family
Frank Worthen, a cartridge maker
E.A. Worthen, his wife
Maude Worthen, their daughter
#3 Johnson St.
1889-90
Luther Barney, carpenter
E.A. Whitlock, employed by C.H.Emerson & Co.
1891 Luman Cook, clerk
#5 Johnson St.
1889-90
Samuel Everette, laborer
Josie Everette
C.M.Jones, widow
#7 Johnson St.
1890
Theodore St. Antoine, laborer
George Wilkins, clerk
1. Burlington City Directory 1888
2. Richard C. Morsbach. Historic Sites and Structures Survey. 1-7 Johnson
Street. Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. Montpelier, VT. June 15,
1978
3 Burlington City Directory 1890
4. Burlington City Directories Database 1883-1893: http://www.ancestry.com.
11/19/04