The City of Burlington was experiencing a great deal of growth between 1877 and 1890, due to expansion of the Burlington and Winooski mills. The area researched within this aspect of the class 1890 study spanned the area east of North and South Prospect Streets to the Winooski Bridge. In the Winooski mill area, several new streets and subdivisions appeared: Grove Street, Chase Lane and Rumsey Lane – as well as an expansion of Chase Street. Closer to central Burlington, the area surrounding Mansfield Avenue was developed. Colchester Avenue has historically been a main thoroughfare between the two cities, and it was natural for the adjacent area to burgeon. Residential development was not the only consequence of this growth, but the Mary Fletcher Hospital (now Fletcher Allen Health Care), several parochial schools (Mount St. Mary Academy among them) and commercial enterprises also came into being.
This research project began with a comparison of two historic maps of the City of Burlington: the 1877 Birds Eye View map1 and the 1890 Hopkins map.2 A definitive comparison was impossible however, as the 1877 map is not drawn to scale nor does it accurately represent building footprints or locations. In addition, the Hopkins map presented an additional dilemma in that it soon became apparent that it may have actually been published later than 1890 - perhaps in 1891 or even 1892. Research revealed that several structures depicted on this map were actually not built until 1891 (for example, the UVM-owned buildings located at 475 & 481 Main Street, as well as Perkins Hall, which is located on the core campus).
1. J.J. Stoner, Birds Eye View of Burlington
and Winooski, Vermont (Madison, WI: 1877).
2. G. M. Hopkins, C.E., Map of the City
of Burlington, Vermont, From official Records, Private Plans and Actual Surveys (Philadelphia:
Hopkins, 1890).