Guildhall Village Historic District

DESCRIPTION:

Guildhall village is located on a terrace above the Connecticut River in the northeastern corner of the town of Guildhall, Essex County, Vermont. It is two miles southwesterly of the confluence of the Upper Ammonoosuc River and the Connecticut River. The village is dramatically sited in a valley surrounded by mountains, the most prominent being Burnside Mountain on the west, and Cape Horn, in Northumberland, N.H., on the east. Vermont Highway 102, the River Road, which follows the course of the Connecticut River along the eastern boundary of the town, is the only route through the village. It forms a right angle at the southeasterly corner of the county common and is carried across the Connecticut to Northumberland, N.H., on a two-span, Parker through truss bridge built in 1919. The bridge crosses the river approximately 300 feet northeasterly of the Northumberland Dam.

The Guildhall Village Historic District centers around the county common and extends approximately 552 feet north of the common on Elm, or North Street (Route 102 to Maidstone), and approximately 658 feet west of the common on Main Street (Route 102 to Lunenburg). It is bounded on the east and south by the Connecticut River, and on the west and north by property lines which delineate the edge of the village's concentration of significant properties.

The common is bordered primarily by mid-nineteenth century residential and public buildings which form an open quadrangle between the Connecticut River and Court House Hill. The quadrangle consists of eleven significant buildings which very in age, function, plan, and style, but are cohesive in scale, building materials, and vernacular design.

The architectural focal point of the townscape is the Essex County Court House (#22), a dignified Greek Revival style building located at the head of the common. Adjacent to the courthouse is the Guildhall United Church (#21), a good example of a mid-nineteenth century "third period" church. The north side of the quadrangle also includes the former Essex County Jail and the Queen Anne style Jailer's House (#19 and 20).

Across the common from the county buildings is the community's once active commercial and industrial zone along the Connecticut River. The former Hall Store (#8), an outstanding pro-style Greek Revival commercial building, is the most visible remnant of the village's former commercial prosperity. The other buildings along the southern end of the common include the trailer used by the Guildhall Post Office (#7), the Italianate style Hall House (#9), and the Greek Revival style Sullivan House (#10). Below the level of the common, on the northwesterly end of the Northumberland Dam, the concrete foundation of the former Susquehanna Pulp and Paper Company Hydroelectric Plant (#27). Between the dam and the Northumberland Bridge is the remains of a wing dam, the first of its type built in the Connecticut, and the site of the first mill built in the village (#28).

The venerable Guild Hall (#17), the town's community building, occupies a pivotal site at the southwest corner of the common. North of the Guild Hall are the Greek Revival style Dolan House (#18), and the Jailer's Barn (#19). Across the common from the Guild Hall is the outstanding Neo-Georgian style Guildhall Public Library and Masonic Building (#5). The east side of the quadrangle also includes the Colonial Revival style Strayer House (#4), and, at the southwest corner of the library, a granite monument dedicated to the youths of Guildhall and Maidstone who served in World War I and World War II. A triangle-shaped traffic island at the southeast corner of the common exhibits a unique late-nineteenth century iron fountain (#26).

Vermont Highway 102 west and north of the common is lined with a small, but impressive collection of Greek Revival style dwellings, the most noteworthy of which is the Albert C. McAllister House (#15).

Scattered throughout the district are a few buildings that do not contribute to the historic integrity of the community. The non-contributory buildings include three residences (#'s 11, 12, and 16), a car port (#4a), three garages (#'s 3a, 9a, and 25a), and one trailer (#7).

The buildings and structures included in the Guildhall Village Historic District are as follows (numbers refer to the enclosed sketchmap):

1. Margaret G. Fuller House: (c. 1828)
1-1/2-story, 3 x 5 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed Greek Revival style building with a stone foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a rectangular plan with over-all dimensions of 24' 7" x 45' 7". The house exhibits box cornices, close rakes with molded gable cornice trim, pedimented gable ends, 2/2 sash, and a sidehall entrance with sidelights, pilasters, an architrave, and a frieze. The Fuller House was built around 1828 by Colonel Isaac Cummings (1799-1880), who served as county clerk from 1844 to 1850, judge of probate from 1848 to 1851, and postmaster from 1857 to 1861.

2. Robert B. Fallansbee House: (c. 1836)
1-1/2-story, 2 x 5 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed building with a brick foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has an L-shaped plan with a 26' 4" x 43' main section and a 19' x 20' 4" ell. The house exhibits narrow box cornices with cornice returns, close rakes with gable cornice trim, 2/2 sash, a square bay window, a central entrance with sidelights, and a porch with pierced columns with bracketed heads. The Fallansbee House may have been built around 1836 by the Honorable William Heywood, Jr., (1804-1893), who served as state's attorney for Essex County from 1833 to 1853, senator from Essex County from 1837 to 1838, and judge of probate from 1867 to 1878.

3. Robert McVetty House: (c. 1866)
1-story, 2 x 3 bay, balloon-frame, gable-roofed building with a concrete block foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It is rectangular in plan with dimensions of 17' 3" x 39' 9", excluding the non-original lean-to across the west wall, and the gable-roofed porch across the facade. The building exhibits box cornices without returns, a wide frieze, 2/2 sash, window head casings with molded drip caps, and corner boards with crown moldings. The McVetty House was originally known as the Benton Office. It was built by Charles E. Benton (1825-1892), who served as county clerk from 1866 to 1892, county treasurer from 1866 to 1892, town representative to the General Assembly from 1866 to 1867, senator from Essex County from 1874 to 1875, register of probate in 1884, and judge of probate from 1886 to 1892. The office was remodeled by Everett C. Benton in 1881 for use as a tenement.

3a. McVetty Garage: 1-story, balloon frame, end-opening, single car garage with a concrete foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has over-all dimensions of 11' 5" x 21' 6". Does not contribute to the historic character of the district.

4. Luther M. Strayer, Jr., House: (c. 1915)
1-1/2-story, 5 x 2 bay, balloon frame, gable-roofed, Colonial Revival style building with a stone foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has an L-shaped plan with a 23' 3" x 47' 1" main section and a 16' 4" x 21' 10" elf. The house exhibits narrow box cornices, close rakes, two gable-roofed dormer windows with connecting shed-roofed dormer, 4/4 sash, a central entrance with a shallow gable-roofed porch, and end wall porches with Tuscan columns. The property exhibits an original wood spike-and-post fence. The Strayer House was built by town historian and benefactor, Everett Chamberlin Benton (1862 - c. 1924), around 1915. It is referred to as the Benton Cottage.

4a. Strayer Car Port: Detached car port with steel columns and a gable roof with corrugated plastic roofing. It has over-all dimensions of 11' 4" x 14' 3". Does not contribute to the historic character of the district.

5. Guildhall Public Library and Masonic Building: (1900-1901)
2-story, 3 x 2 bay, balloon frame, hip-roofed, Neo-Georgian style building with a cobblestone foundation, vinyl clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. The building has a square-shaped plan with over-all dimensions of 40' 4" x 38' 4". The building's pyramidal hip roof has flared eaves with a modillioned cornice and is surmounted by a cupola with a tripped campaniform roof. The building exhibits a wall entablature, a slightly projecting central pavilion with a pedimented roof supported by Corinthian pilasters, a semicircular Ionic portico with bronze antefix cresting along the roof edge, a belt course, outstanding stained glass windows, and an Adamesque doorway with fanlight, sidelights, and Corinthian pilasters. The Guildhall Public Library was built in 1900-1901 by Everett C. Benton, town historian and benefactor. It was designed by Boston architects, Gay and Proctor. The building occupies the site of the Essex House, which was destroyed by fire in 1892.

6. Robert J. Funk House: (c. 1839)
11-1/2-story, 5 x 3 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed building with a random rubble foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It is rectangular in plan with a 28' 3" x 38' 4" main section, a 24' 7" x 22' 6" barn, and a 28' 3" x 20' 6" post office section built around 1955. The house exhibits box cornices with cornice returns, 6/6 and 1/1 sash, a non-original shed-roofed dormer window on the south slope of the roof, and a non-original shed-roofed porch across the facade. The Funk House was built by Greenlief Webb (1794-1887) around 1839. Webb served as postmaster briefly in 1830, county sheriff from 1833 to 1851, and town representative to the General Assembly in 1861.

7. Guildhall Post Office: (1977)
11' 7" x 56' 3" trailer supplied by the U.S. Postal Service. The trailer occupies the site of a pro-style Greek Revival commercial building that was similar in form to the Hall Store (#8). The store was known as the Essex County Boot and Shoe Store, and it was built by Hinds R. Darling in 1851. It was demolished around 1977. Does not contribute to the historic character of the district.

8. Hall Store: (1855)
2-1/2-story, 3 x 4 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed, Greek Revival style commercial building with a brick foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a rectangle-shaped plan with a six-foot-deep portico and dimensions of 24' 5" x 36' 5". Attached to the store is a 3 x 4 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed barn with over-all dimensions of 30' 3" x 43' 5". The store exhibits box cornices without cornice returns, a portico with square posts and a second story porch which extends around the northeast corner of the building, a central entrance with transom light, display windows, 6/6 and 2/2 sash, an octagonal oriel window, and pediment-shaped window head casings. The Hall Store was built by George Hubbard in 1855. The barn was added to the store in 1857. George Hubbard (1815-1905) operated a general merchandise store in the building until 1870 when he sold the property to George Copp and Frank Hall. It has been owned by the Hall family since that time. The building is now vacant and has not been used for commercial purposes since 1917.

9. Frank Hall House: (c. 1800; 1865)
2-story, 5 x 4 bay, hip-roofed, Italianate style building with a part stone and part brick foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has an L-shaped plan with a 44' 4" x 40' 4" main section and a 1-1/2-story, gable-roofed, 39' 8" x 32' 4" elf. The house exhibits box cornices, a wide frieze, 6/6 sash, window head casings with molded drip caps, a U-shaped bay window, corner quoins, a double-leaf entrance, and a hipped roof porch with Tuscan colonettes. The Frank Hall House was built by Noah Sabin, a millwright and merchant, around 1800. The building was referred to as Noah Sabin's tavern house. It was extensively remodeled in 1865 by Robert Chase, who owned half interest in mills on both sides of the Connecticut River. It has been stated that Chase virtually rebuilt the house using nothing but the old pine frame.

9a. Frank Hall Garage: 2-story, balloon frame, hip-roofed, three car garage with a stone foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has overall dimensions of 30' 5" x 31' 1". Does not contribute to the historic character of the district.

10. Estella R. Sullivan House: (c. 1841)
1-1/2-story, 4 x 6 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed building with a brick foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a rectangular plan with over-all dimensions of 30' 5" x 45' 1". Attached to the house is a non-original balloon-framed, shed-roofed, two-car garage. The house exhibits box cornices, pedimented gable ends, non-original dormer windows on both slopes of the roof, a wide frieze, 2/2 sash, and a porch with chamfered posts with bracketed heads. The Sullivan House may have been built by David E. Denison (1806-1848), around 1841. Denison was instrumental in having the Congregational Church (#21) built at the head of the common in 1844.

11. Rev. Maurice H. Porter House: (c. 1938)
1-1/2-story, 3 x 3 bay, balloon frame, gable-roofed building with a concrete foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a rectangular plan with over-all dimensions of 22' 4" x 41' 1". A 1-story, shed-roofed, two-car garage, 21' 2" x 23' 4" in plan, is attached to the southeast corner of the house. The Porter House was built by Robert Wentworth around 1938. Does not contribute to the historic character of the district.

12. Stanley M. Hall House: (c. 1955)
1-story, balloon frame, gable-roofed building with a concrete block foundation, bevel siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a 36' 8" x 37' 1" main section, a 20' 2" x 36' 2" wing, and a 25' 7" x 25' 1" garage wing. The Stanley Hall House was built by Stanley Hall around 1955. Does not contribute to the historic character of the district.

13. Walter Franz and Burnerd W. Parsons House: (c. 1808; c. 1855)
2-1/2-story, 5 x 3 bay, gable-roofed building with a stone foundation, clapboard siding, and a sheet metal covered roof. It is a continuous farm structure with main section with over-all dimensions of 28' 5" x 40' 5", and a wing with attached barn with over-all dimensions of 24' 6" x 82'. The house exhibits box cornices and cornice returns with coupled consoles, a wide frieze, pediment-shaped window heads, 2/2 sash, a polygonal bay window, a rectangular bay window, corner quoins, and a recessed central entrance with paneled pilasters and a pediment-shaped lintel. The wing and barn of the Franz and Parsons House was built around 1808 by Erastus Cutler (1783-1832). The main section of the house was built around 1855 by William H. Hartshorn (1819-1889). Hartshorn was proprietor of the Essex House from 1866 to 1882, and he served as county clerk from 1848 to 1864, judge of probate from 1867 to 1878, assistant judge from 1884 to 1886, senator from Essex County from 1854 to 1855, town representative to the General Assembly from 1858 to 1859, 1878, town clerk from 1863 to 1889, and postmaster from 1861 to 1878.

14. Site of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Guildhall, Vermont: (1865)
The church was built in 1865 on land deeded to the Stewards of the Methodist Episcopal Church by B. W. Dodge in 1865. It was a 1-story, 2 x 3 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed building with a three-stage steeple with spire. The church was Greek Revival in style and exhibited pedimented gable ends, a deep portico, corner pilasters, pediment-shaped window heads, and a monumental entrance with double-doors, sidelights, transom light, pilasters, and an entablature with a triangle-shaped pediment. The church was demolished in 1942.

15. Albert C. McAllister House: (1807; 1850)
1-1/2-story, 4 x 4 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed, Greek Revival style building with a stone foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a 31' 6" x 33' 4" main section, a 22' 5" x 47' 9" wing, and a 21' 4" x 26' 6" barn. The house exhibits box cornices with cornice returns, a wall entablature, Ionic corner pilasters, a two-story, gable-roofed bay window, 6/6 sash, and an asymmetrical-placed main entrance with fret ears, pilasters, paneled reveals, a transom light, sidelights, and a door with a lyre carved in relief in the center panel. The wing and barn of the McAllister House was built in 1807 by William Hewes. From 1808 to 1829 it was the law office of Seth Cushman (1782-1845). Cushman served as State's attorney of Essex County from 1806 to 1828, town representative to the General Assembly from 1818 to 1820, 1827, and postmaster from 1821 to 1841. In 1850 Dr. Henry L. Watson built the main section of the house. Asa and Asa Stewart, Jr., were the contractors and possible designers of the house. Asa Stewart, Jr., executed the detailed carvings of the house, including the lyre in the center panel of the main entrance.

16. Earle D. Clark House: (c. 1946)
1-1/2-story, 2 x 3 bay, balloon frame, gable-roofed building with a concrete foundation, bevel siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has over-all dimensions in plan of 24' 4" x 34' 4". The house was built by Earle D. Clark around 1946. Does not contribute to the historic character of the district

17. Guild Hall: (1795; 1850; 1921)
The Guild Hall incorporates two buildings extended by additions, and joined by an intermediate structure in 1921 when it was renovated for use as the town's community building by Everett C. Benton. The building was conveyed to the town as a memorial to Everett C. Benton by Willena R. Benton, et. al., in 1928. The east section of the building was built in 1795 by Eben W. Judd as a store. It was the Essex County Bank from 1833 to 1839, and at various times it was a hat factory, and a boot and shoe shop. It was originally located at the southeasterly corner of the land granted to Essex County in 1797 by Eben W. Judd. It is a 1-1/2 story, 3 x 3 bay, plank-wall, gable-roofed building with a part brick and part random rubble foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has over-all dimensions of 24' 7" x 34' 5". It exhibits box cornices with a wide cornice on the southwall, slender corner pilasters, a slight gable extension, casement display windows, 9/4 sash, plank shutters with original forged iron hardware, and Georgian paneled doors. The west section of the Guild Hall was built in 1850 as a law office for William H. Hartshorn. It also has functioned as a doctor's office, and the office of the Essex County Herald, printed in Guildhall from 1873 to 1877. The building is a 1-1/2-story, 3 x 3 bay, plank-wall, gable-roofed structure with a part brick and part random rubble foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has over-all dimensions of 20' 4" x 33' 7". It exhibits box cornices, pedimented gable ends, a wide frieze, and 8/12 sash.

18. Jacqueline Dolan House: (1866)
1-1/2-story, 3 x 4 bay, balloon frame, gable-roofed, Greek Revival style building with a stone foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a rectangular main section with over-all dimensions of 24' 4" x 30' and a wing with over-all dimensions of 20' 2" x 34' 4". The house exhibits box cornices with cornice returns, a wall entablature, paneled, comer pilasters, altered fenestration, and a recessed sidehall entrance with sidelights. paneled reveals, paneled pilasters, and an entablature. The wing exhibits a carriage bay with an elliptical-headed entrance. The Dolan House was built in 1866 as a parsonage for the Congregational church. It was built for an estimated $2,000.00.

19. Jailer's Barn: (c. 1880)
1-1/2-story, balloon frame, gable-roofed barn with a concrete foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a square plan with over-all dimensions of 30' 6" x 32' 6". The barn exhibits box cornices without cornice returns, 6/6 sash, and two double-door entrances.

20. Jailer's House and Essex County Jail: (1879-1880)
The Jailer's House is a 1-1/2-story, 5 x 3 bay, balloon frame, gable-roofed building with a brick foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a rectangle-shaped main section with over-all dimensions of 35' 77' x 26' 8'7 and a wing with over-all dimensions of 35' 3" x 18' 3". It exhibits box cornices with cornice returns, a wall entablature, corner pilasters, 2/2 sash, window head casings-with molded drip caps, a central entrance, and a porch with chamfered posts with bracketed heads. Attached to the north wall of the house is the former Essex County Jail. It is a 1-1/2-story, brick-wall, gable-roofed building with a stone foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It is rectangular in plan with over-all dimensions of 28' 8" x 39' 4". The jail exhibits a shed-roofed dormer on the east slope of the roof, 2/2 sash with latticework steel bars. The Essex County Jail and Jailer's House was built in 1879--1880 on the site of an earlier facility burned by prisoners in 1878. The jail was discontinued in 1969.

21. Guildhall United Church: (1844)
1-story, 3 x 3 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed, Greek Revival style church with a concrete foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a square-shaped plan with over-all dimensions of 44' 4" x 45' 4". The building has a two-stage belfry with a square, clapboarded drum, and an open bell] chamber with a flipped roof and corner pinnacles. The church exhibits box cornices, pedimented gable ends, a wide frieze, 12/8 sash, coupled, stained-glass windows, and two entrances with fluted cheek and head casings. The church was built in 1844 by the First Congregational Ecclesiastical Society of Guildhall, Vermont, for an estimated $1,200.00.

22. Essex County Court House: (1851)
1-1/2-story, 3 x 4 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed, Greek Revival style building with a stone foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a rectangular plan with over-all dimensions of 39' 5" x 67' 7". The building is surmounted by a two-stage cupola with a campaniform roof. Attached to the west wall of the building is a shed-roofed brick vault, and attached to the north wall is a 1-story, gable-roofed wing. The courthouse exhibits box cornices without cornice returns, a wall entablature, paneled corner pilasters, 9/6 and 6/6 sash, and a recessed entrance with shiplap sheathed reveals, sidelights, paneled pilasters, and a wide lintel. The Essex County Court House was built in 1851 after plans drawn by S. G. Babcock. It replaced the first courthouse, which was built on Court House Hill in 1803 and moved down to the common on the site of the present building in 1831.

23. Essex County Office Building: (c. 1851)
1-1/2-story, 3 x 3 bay, timber-framed, gable-roofed, Greek Revival style building with a stone and concrete block foundation, clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a square-shaped plan with over-all dimensions of 34' 7" x 34' 7". The building exhibits box cornices without cornice returns, a wall entablature, paneled corner pilasters, 9/6 sash, a central entrance with a pediment-shaped head casing, and a non-original porch with a gable roof. The Essex County Office Building was built around 1851 by the Essex County Grammar School which was incorporated in 1805. It has been used as an office building since 1957.

24. Clarence E. Ramsdell House: (c. 1838)
1-1/2-story, 2 x 4 bay, gable-roofed, Greek Revival style, plank wall building with a stone foundation, asphalt shingle covered walls, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a main section with dimensions of 20' 4" x 30' 5" and an ell with dimensions of 20' 3" x 23' 2". The house exhibits box cornices with cornice returns, a wide frieze, 2/2 sash, and a main entrance with pilasters, corner blocks, and a lintel. The Ramsdell House was built by William Heywood, Jr., as a law office around 1838. It is often referred to as the Heywood Office.

25. William T. King, Jr., House: (1857)
1-1/2-story, 5 x 3 bay, balloon frame, gable-roofed, Greek Revival style house with a concrete foundation, aluminum clapboard siding, and an asphalt shingle covered roof. It has a rectangular plan with over-all dimensions of 26' 8" x 33' 6". The house exhibits box cornices without cornice returns, a wall entablature, corner pilasters, pediment-shaped window head casings, and 2/2 sash. The King House was built by George W. Proctor in 1857.It was the home of Jonathan Poole from 1858 to 1902.

25a. King Garage: 1-story, balloon frame, gable-roofed garage with a concrete block foundation and square-edged wood sheathing. It has over-all dimensions of 24' x 24'. Does not contribute to the historic character of the district.

26. Iron Fountain:
6' 5" high iron fountain with a hooded bubbler, bowl-shaped horse trough, and a saucer-shaped dog trough at the base. The fountain was manufactured by the Concord Foundry Company of Concord, N.H. ,

27. Remains of the Susquehanna Pulp and Paper Company Hydroelectric Plant:
Hydroelectric installation built around 1921; powerhouse and control room burned around 1963. The ruin includes the concrete foundation of the powerhouse, the penstocks, turbine chamber, draft tube, tail race, and adjacent overflow. The plant supplied electricity for the company's mill in Northumberland, N.H.

28. Site of the Ward Bailey Grist Mill: (1787)
The Bailey Grist Mill was built below what is reputed to be the first wing dam built in the Connecticut. It was in operation until 1844. According to a petition submitted by one Enoch Bartlett to the Council and Representatives of the State of New Hampshire in 1780, the iron work, mill stones, gears, and other building materials, were plundered from a mill located on Dean Brook in Northumberland and transported across the Connecticut for use in the Bailey mill.

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Guildhall village, originally known as Guildhall Falls, is the oldest community in northeastern Vermont. It is historically significant as an early commercial and industrial center, and as the location of the seat of Essex County.

The heart of the village, as represented by the Guildhall Village Historic District, contains a noteworthy collection of Greek Revival buildings erected during the village's period of greatest vigor. Its exceptional architectural quality documents the former rural prosperity in northeastern Vermont during the middle of the nineteenth century, and its form, relatively unchanged since that time, documents the architectural development of a rural county seat.

The district exhibits a unity of expression and purpose derived from the development of the village around the county court. Out of the twenty significant buildings in the district, four were built for county use, and eight were built by county officials. Although the use of many of the buildings in the district has changed, the community has maintained the intimate special organization it achieved by the middle of the nineteenth century.

The village is located within what was Settlers' Lot Number One, originally voted by the proprietors of Guildhall to Colonel Ward Bayley, one of the first twelve settlers of the town. Bayley, who was Commander of the Rangers in the Upper Coos region of the Connecticut River valley, built a block house north of the village on what was later known as the Cobb Farm.(1) He also reputedly built the first wing dam in the Connecticut, and erected the first mills in the village in 1786.(2)

Eben W. Judd succeeded Bailey in the ownership of the one hundred acre lot. At the time of the sale in 1789, the lot included "one barn, two dwelling houses,a grist or flower mill and saw mill . . ."(3) Judd, who is considered by town historian, Everett C. Bent to be "the most public spirited man who ever lived in the county . . ."(4) surveyed the River Road through the town in 1792 and built the village's first commercial building in 1795. The Judd Store survives as the east section of the Guild Hall. It is the oldest commercial building in northeastern Vermont.

In 1797, when the location of the shire town of the newly created Essex County was being disputed between Maidstone and Guildhall, Judd granted to the "inhabitants and freeholders" in the county, land for a common, courthouse, and jail.(5) The land was located immediately north of Judd's mills on the Connecticut. At the time the village was referred to as Judd's Mills. The county common, as common property maintained by the sixteen towns, two gores, and one grant in Essex County, is the only true common in the region.

The first Essex County Court House was built on the hill at the northern end of the common in 1803, one year after Guildhall was designated as the county seat. The village gradually developed around the county buildings, which extended across the northern end of the common, and around the commercial interests along the Connecticut at the southern end of the common. The Judd Store, and the Hall House, which was originally known as the Sabin Tavern House, are the only representatives of the town's early development. Early industries located in the commercial and industrial zone along the southern end of the common included a saw mill, carding mill, distillery, hat factory, harness and saddle factory, clothiers mill, two brick yards, and a potashery.(6)

In 1806 the section of the village west of the common was divided into lots for commercial and residential use and the first of four timber truss bridges was built across the Connecticut River between the village and Northumberland, N.H. By this time, the land use in the village had been firmly established. The boundary of the village, however, was not established until 1830, and the present boundary of the common was defined in 1831 when the courthouse was moved from Court House Hill to the site of the present courthouse. In 1832 the second, or third, Essex County Jail was built at the northwesterly corner of the common.

By 1859 the area around the common achieved the form and density it has maintained for over a century. At that time, it contained ten residences, four stores, a grist mill, a saw mill, a hotel, a blacksmith's shop, a law office, a church, a jail, a courthouse, and a school.(7) The area was developed primarily by county officials between 1830 and 1860. Most of the village's architecturally significant buildings were erected during this thirty year period, including the Albert C. McAllister House, the second, and present, Essex County Court House, the Guildhall United Church, and the Hall Store.

The commercial activity and physical growth of the village stabilized during the second half of the nineteenth century. Just after the First World War, however, the commercial and industrial activity in the entire region began to decline. In 1955 the last major business in the village closed.

Everett C. Benton (1862 - c.1924), town historian and benefactor, began to enhance and preserve the character of the village as early as 1900. After the Essex House was destroyed be fire in 1892, Benton purchased the hotel lot and in 1900-1901 built an outstanding Neo-Georgian style library. Adjacent to the library he built his summer home, the Benton Cottage, around 1915. In 1916 he purchased the former Hartshorn Law Office and the Judd Store at the southwesterly corner of the common, and began renovating the two buildings for use as a community building. The Guild Hall, as Benton called it, was dedicated on Armistice Day 1921.(8)

Despite the erosion of the established political and judicial concerns of Essex County in Guildhall, and the eclipse of all industrial and commercial activity in the district, the community has maintained the form and appearance it achieved during the middle of the nineteenth century. The village as it exists today reflects the epoch when the community was the religious and economic center of the town, and the powerful judicial and governmental seat of Essex County.

NOTES:
1. Everett Chamberlin Benton, A History of Guildhall, Vermont. (Waverley, Mass.: Everett C. Benton, 1886), p. 77.
2. Ibid., p. 126.
3. "Deed-Ward Bailey to Even W. Judd," Land Records of Guildhall, Vermont, 1789, Book A, p. 119.
4. Benton, op. cit., p. 248.
5. "Deed-Eben W. Judd to the Inhabitants and Freeholders of the County of Essex," Land Records of Guildhall, Vermont, 1797, Book B, p. 61.
6. Benton, op. cit., pp. 125-135.
7. H. F. Walling, Map of the Counties of Orleans, Lamoille, and Essex, Vermont, (New York: Loomis and Way, 1859), Guildhall Inset.
8. "Guild Hall", Coos County Democrat, XLXI (November 23, 1921), p. 1.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Benton, Everett Chamberlin. History of Guildhall, Vermont. Waverley, Mass.: Everett C. Benton, 1886.

Hemenway, Abby Maria. The Vermont Historical Gazetteer. Vol. 1. Burlington: A. M Hemenway, 1867.

Rogers, Patricia. History of Guildhall, Vermont. Guildhall: The Town of Guildhall Bicentennial Committee, 1975.

FORM PREPARED BY: Allen D. Hodgdon, Division for Historic Preservation, Pavilion Building, Montpelier, VT. Tel: 802-828-3226. Date: May 22. 1980.

DATE ENTERED: September 27, 1980.
(Source 127)