University Green Area Heritage Study

Historic Burlington Research Project - HP 206

Historic Preservation Program - University of Vermont

86 South Williams Street

(Booth House)

(Photo taken by Julie Senk)

         Situated at 86 South Williams Street lies a two-story Colonial Revival structure known as the Booth House. The building was built circa 1900.1 and for a time found itself as the residence of various University of Vermont professors. Professor Arthur D. Butterfield was the first occupant of the house, moving in with his wife in 1900.2 Butterfield was an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the time3 and would go on to become the Chairman of the Mathematics Department, retiring several years later in 1944.4 His time at 86 South Williams Street was short- lived: by 1903 the brand-new structure lay vacant.5 Carlton B. Stetson, who was a Professor Pro Tempore of Greek at the University of Vermont,6 lived in the house from 1904 to 1905.7 James D. Benedict, the manager of the Free Press Printing Co., was the only occupant that did not work at UVM during this time period.8 His stay at 86 South Williams Street lasted from 1908 to 19119 until Arthur B. Myrick moved in 1912.10 A Professor of Romance Languages at the University of Vermont, Myrick was the last UVM professor to inhabit the house.11

         86 South Williams Street would soon come to be known as the Booth House, named after its longest occupant, John E. Booth. Booth’s father, Edward J. Booth, acquired the land and house from then deed-holder, Albert E. Richardson, in 191312 and sold it to his son, John, in 1915.13 The following year, John E. Booth, along with his wife Muriel Badger, moved into the house on 86 South Williams Street14 that would serve as there home for the next fifty-plus years.

         John E. Booth (photo on left, courtesy of UVM Special Collections) was the nephew of J. R. Booth, a multi-millionaire who made his fortune by running one of the most prominent lumber corporations in Canada, the John R. Booth Lumber Company, with many branches located throughout the United States.15 After graduating from Burlington High School and attending Dartmouth College for one year, John E. Booth began work as a “tally boy” in 1908 at his uncle’s Burlington, Vermont lumber firm.16 By the time Booth moved into 86 South Williams Street he was traveling throughout Northern New England as the firm’s sales manager.17 In 1920, Booth was promoted to assistant manager underneath his father,18 Edward J. Booth, who managed the firm at the time.19 Booth eventually purchased the Burlington, VT, agency of his uncle’s lumber firm in 1925, renaming it the John E. Booth Lumber Corporation.20

          Although Booth’s occupation had him traveling often, it did not stop him from renovating and expanding his home on 86 South Williams Street over the years. By 1926, Booth had added a front porch that travels the full length of the front facade21 and had alterations done to the main entrance-way door and its surroundings (photo below, courtesy of UVM Special Collections).22 The south side of the house was expanded during this time as well.23 It was also during this period that Booth oversaw the construction of a one-room car garage situated in the rear of the lot, as it appears on a Sanborn Insurance map after 1919 and before 1926.24

         Booth commissioned other alterations and additions to his home over the years, including renovations to bathrooms25 and the construction of a pergola in 1937.26 Maps of the property also show that a porte-cochere was built after 1926 and before 1942, as well.27

         Although it is not stated outright, it can be assumed that several people listed as renters at 86 South Williams between the years of 1933 and 1943 were the children of John E. Booth and Muriel Badger Booth. Those mentioned are Edward J., Gordon B., and Beverly J., all of whom were students at the time.28

         By 1944, Muriel B. Booth and John E. Booth were the only occupants of the home up until their deaths in 1966 and 1969, respectively. The University of Vermont purchased the building from the estate of John E. Booth in 1970.29

         Extensive renovations were done to the Booth House following its purchase by the University in the mid 1970s so that it could function more efficiently as office space. These renovations included wall-to-wall carpeting, the painting of walls, new furnishings, etc.30 The building also went through a series of inspections to ensure that it was up to code.31 However, several interesting features have been preserved inside the house despite these renovations, including the original bathrooms on the second and third floor, both of which display antique fixtures and tiles.

         Since then, the Booth House has served as the University of Vermont Alumni House, the Development Office, and now functions as the Communications Office.

  Text by Julie Senk

Notes

1

 Burlington Free Press, June 8, 1928.

2

 Burlington City Directory, (Burlington, VT: L.P. Waite and Co. Publishers, 1901), 86.

3

 Ariel, (St. Albans: VT: Press of Cummings Printing Company, 1902), 20.

4

 David J. Blow, Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods, (Burlington, VT: Chittenden County Historical

Society, 1991), 114.

5

  Burlington City Directory, (Burlington, VT: L.P. Waite and Co. Publishers, 1903), 314.

6

 Ariel, (Burlington, VT: Free Press Association Printers, Binders, and Stationers, 1904), 17.

7

 Burlington City Directory, (Burlington, VT: L.P. Waite and Co. Publishers, 1905), 253.

8

 Burlington City Directory, (Burlington, VT: L.P. Waite and Co. Publishers, 1908), 70.

9

 Burlington City Directory, (Burlington, VT: L.P. Waite and Co. Publishers, 1911), 67.

10

 Burlington City Directory, (Burlington, VT: L.P. Waite and Co. Publishers, 1912), 203.

11

 Ariel, (Rutand, VT: The Tuttle Company Printers and Binders, 1913), 29.

12

 Burlington, VT, Warranty Deed, compiled by M. Grandy, City Clerk, Received for record June 21, 1913,

Book 65, Page 81.

13

 Finalized sale between E. J. Booth and John E. Booth in 1920:

State of Vermont, Chittenden County, Warranty Deed, compiled by Edward B. Cooley, City Clerk,

Received for record July 3, 1920, Book 76, Page 258.

14

 Burlington City Directory, (Springfield, MA: H.A. Manning Co., 1916), 80.

15

 Burlington Daily News, May 7, 1925.

16

 “Booth Succeeds Booth,” Reprinted from the Lumbermanʼs Review, June 1925.

17

 Burlington Daily News, May 7, 1925.

18

 Burlington City Directory, (Springfield, MA: H.A. Manning Co., 1920), 100.

19

 Burlington Daily News, May 7, 1925.

20

 “Booth Succeeds Booth,” Reprinted from the Lumbermanʼs Review, June 1925.

21

 "Burlington, Vermont, 1926,"  Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, New York: Sanborn Insurance Map

Company, 1926.

22

 “Additions and Alterations to the Residence of J. E. Booth,” Louis S. Newton Papers, University of

Vermont Special Collections, 1926.

23

 "Burlington, Vermont, 1926,"  Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, New York: Sanborn Insurance Map

Company,1926.

24

 Ibid.

25

 “Alterations and Additions to the Residence of J. E. Booth,” Louis S. Newton Papers, University of

Vermont Special Collections, 1937.

26

 John E. Booth to L. S. Newton, April 21, 1937, Louis S. Newton Papers, University of Vermont Special

Collections

27

 "Burlington, Vermont, 1926,"  Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, New York: Sanborn Insurance Map

Company, 1926.

28

 Burlington City Directory, (Springfield, MA: H.A. Manning Co., 1933-43).

29

 Burlington, Vt, Vermont Administratorʼs Deed, Received for record February 13, 1970, Book 65, Page

722.

30

 Booth Building Files, University of Vermont Special Collections, 1975.

31

 Ibid.