475 and 479 Main Street

Photo credit: Katie Briscoe

Located on Main Street facing the southern end of the University Green, the 475/479 Main Street building was constructed in 1891.  It was known as one of the “Converse Cottages”, named for John Heman Converse who donated funds for the building’s construction in 1891 along with Mansfield House and 481 Main Street (see Figure 1). [i] Because the three buildings were built at the same time by the same architectural firm, the Wilson Brothers of Philadelphia, their structures and styles are relatively similar. The first floor of the house was built with rough stone and the second floor with wood. The covered entrance porch is dominated by a large arch, emphasized by the use of darker-colored stone and stick style decorations above. 475 Main Street was originally numbered 483 Main Street until the houses were renumbered in 1920. [ii]   The building was not split into two separate residences until 1946. [iii]

Like Mansfield House and 481 Main Street, 475 Main was built for the purpose of housing UVM faculty. Professor J.E. Goodrich and his wife Ella Moody occupied 475 Main from 1891 until 1915. [iv] Goodrich was a Professor Emeritus in Latin, Superintendent of Education, University Librarian and unofficial historian. [v] He began teaching at UVM in 1853 and enlisted in the Civil War as a Union Soldier in 1864. Goodrich “edited a monumental book on Vermont soldiers in the revolution”, was ordained a Congregational clergyman in 1864, and became Dean of the Department of Arts in 1902. [vi] Goodrich died in 1915 but his wife remained at 475 Main Street until 1920. [vii]

Professor George G. Groat, his wife Elizabeth lived in the home from 1920 to 1951. [viii] Groat was Professor of Economics at UVM and, like Goodrich, was Dean of the Arts. [ix] He was the author of Trade Unions and Law in New York and Attitudes of American Courts in Labor Cases. [x] In 1946 the building was split into two separate units, the reason for this split is unclear. Professor Arthur D. Butterfield moved from Mansfield House to 479 Main Street with his wife Orpha Lee where they lived together until 1951. Upon the death of Professors Butterfield and Groat around 1951, their widows remained at 475 and 479 Main Street, respectively, until 1960. [xi]

Professor John Edward Donnelly, Associate Professor of Physical Education and Director of Athletics at UVM, and his wife Virginia lived at 479 Main Street from 1960 to 1967. [xii]   Under Donnelly’s direction, the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1969. He was UVM’s athletic director for twenty-one years and its football coach from 1952 to 1961. He was a “primary force behind the construction of the spacious athletic complex which houses basketball, hockey”, etc. which opened in 1963. [xiii] Donnelly was inducted into the Hall of Fame, which he helped establish, in 1974 for his success as a coach and Athletic Director. [xiv]

Professor Florence M. Woodward lived at 475 Main Street from 1961 to 1967. [xv] Woodward, a professor of economics at UVM, was the author of The People of Vermont – Population Patterns and Trends since 1940 and The Town Proprietors in Vermont – 1936” [xvi]   Professor Woodward was the last professor to occupy 475/479 Main Street. From 1968 to 1974 the building was used as UVM’s Government Research Center, World Affairs Center, and International Studies. [xvii]   It is now the home of the UVM Department of Speech and Debate, and Department of Asian Studies.

Renovations and Architectural Changes

The building at 475/479 Main Street first appears on the Sanborn fire insurance maps in 1900. It retains its simple, rectangular shape in the 1906, 1912, 1919, and 1926 Sanborn maps. In the 1919 map a small square building was constructed behind the building on the western boundary of the property. “Auto” is written next to the building on the map which may mean that it was a small car garage. This building remained throughout the 1950s but is no longer there today. The 1942 map documents the front covered porch and alterations made to the rear of the structure as well as the addition of a bay window on the eastern elevation. [xviii]