481 Main Street

Photo credit: Katie Briscoe

481 Main Street was constructed in 1891 with funds given to the University by John Heman Converse. Known as one of the “Converse Cottages”, it was designed and built by the Wilson Brothers architectural firm with a similar design aesthetic and materials in relation to Mansfield House and 475/479 Main Street (see Figures 1 and 2). [i] The two and a half story structure is made of stone on the first floor and of half-timbered wood above. There is a tower on the northwest elevation with an onion dome. The northeast elevation projects off of the rectangular structure towards the University Green in the north.

The building was first occupied by Professor Josiah W. Votey and his family in 1891 (see Figure 3). [ii] Votey, a Professor of Civil Engineering and Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds (1901-1904) married Emma Luella Lane and had 4 children: Florence, Ruth, Dorothy, and Constance. [iii] Mrs. Votey studied music at UVM and became a music teacher. After her death, Votey married Dorothy Votey, with whom he lived at 481 Main Street until 1930. [iv] Before 1920, the address of the building was 489 Main Street. Despite J. H. Converse’s stipulation that the buildings be used as UVM professor housing, Professor Votey was the only member of UVM faculty to reside at 481 Main Street. Dorothy moved from the building in 1931 and it remained vacant that year. [v]

From 1932 to 1951 481 Main Street was used as the Vermont Agricultural Extension Service. In a similar capacity, the building was occupied by the United States Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee from 1956 to 1967. [vi] The possible reason for this transformation is as follows. In 1862, Congress passed the Morrill Bill which donated “public lands to those States which may provide Colleges for the benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts.” [vii] The University of Vermont added to its institution the State Agricultural College in November 1865. [viii]

Cassius Peck, a farmer and Civil War soldier, lived at 481 Main Street as the Superintendent of the Experimental Farm and of the buildings and grounds of the State Agricultural College from 1910 through 1912. Amos Morrill was a resident around the same time period as an employee of the Experiment Station Farm. [ix]

In 1968, 481 Main Street was the home of the Departments of Sociology, Religion, and Classics at UVM. [x] These departments (with the exception of Sociology), remain at 481 Main Street today.

Renovations and Architectural Changes

481 Main Street first appears on the Sanborn fire insurance maps in 1900. Its rectangular shape with tower and front porch on the northeastern elevation are preserved on the Sanborn maps from 1906, 1912, 1919, and 1926. On the 1906 Sanborn Map a large rectangular structure appears in the lower southeast side of the property boundary. The building, which appears on the Sanborn maps until 1942, has the appearance of a barn. In 1919 a small square structure was constructed behind the house halfway down the southeast boundary line. “Auto” is written next to it which may mean it was a small car garage. Both the rectangular and square structures do not appear on the 1942 Sanborn map but are replaced with a parking lot. On the 1942 Sanborn map there is an addition off the southern elevation, possibly a rear entrance. Also, a bay window was built on the northeast elevation. Because of limited renovations to 481 Main Street since its construction, it looks today much like it had in 1891. [xi]

		Figure 1: Mansfield House, 475 Main St., 481 Main St. (Ariel 1892, Vol. 5, p.27)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

		Figure 2: College of Engineering, Votey (front left), Butterfield (front far right) (Ariel 1930, Vol.43, p.36)