Rutland Railroad Historical Society 2009
Proctor VT, May 01-02 2009
Burlington Side Trip
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Burlington VT
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One of the many interesting facades that top some of the buildings on Church St, in Burlington. The town's position on Lake Champlain helped it grow into a port of entry and a trade center after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, and the Chambly Canal in 1865. Freight and passenger steamboat connections would come later with the Rutland and Burlington Railroad and the Vermont Central railroad. This would lead to the incorporation of the city in 1865. |
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Northeast corner of the Church Street Marketplace on the corner of Bank Street. The marketplace is a mix of the old and the new, as seen in the first shot. The street is banked with open terraced eateries, retailers and cultural forums.
The second shot was taken from the end of the mall looking south on the corner of Pearl Street. Pretty nice weather for early May.
Below are four shots of the First Unitarian Universalist Society Church which stands at the North End of the mall. The first three are taken from Cherry Street looking north to Pearl Street, while the last is a close up of the church itself. |
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There is some personal history behind the four shots above.
Henry's Diner was always a favorite for that late Sunday breakfast. Located on Bank Street in Burlington it was also a great place for lunch, with healthy portions at a reasonable price.
Nector's Lounge appears in the second shot. It really was our meeting spot whenever we used to get to Burlington and is located on Main Street. On this visit it appeared as though it had closed its doors or was being renovated.
The third shot is the take out window on the facade of Nectar's. I can't really remember what they sold from there. Nector's had a unique menu which as far as I know included the only place you could get poutine in the US. Poutine is a French Canadian tradition of French Fries, covered with cheese curds and smothered in brown gravy.
The final shot is looking eastward from Nectar's towards the Lakefront on Main Street at the foot of the Church Street mall.
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| Couple of shots of what was probably the second generation Armory in Burlington. Constructed in 1904 it was leased to the Vermont National Guard. At one time it served as a roller skating rink and an exhibition hall. The Guard gave it up around 1919 and it later housed several businesses and it is planned to restore it into office and retail space. Location is on Main Street, on the corner of Pine St., just two blocks west of the main rail line of the Rutland. |
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| Located a 1 Main Street is Burlington's Union Station which was built in 1915. Unfortunately I lost the other shots I took of it and I think the winged creature on top of the building is the culprit. No longer used for railroad's it houses a restaurant and some retail. The Green Mountain Railroad still operates a tourist train from here known as the Champlain Valley Flyer which runs between Burlington VT and Charlotte VT. |
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| Trackside in Burlington. I believe this would have been Track 3 of the passenger station. First shot is looking northward towards College St. The second shot would be looking southward towards King St. The road running parallel to the track is Steele St. Union Station not pictured, is on the right in the first shot and on the left in the second shot. |
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Not really sure if the first shot was the actual "icehouse" in Burlington for the railroad, but the foundation definitely looks as though it was part of an early original structure. The location on Battery St. and King St. would have put it in the midst of all the steamship and rail traffic for many years.
The second shot is the Shanty Restaurant & Fish Company located on Battery St. The building is a puzzle to me as it looks like there have many additions over time. A quick glance through Shaughnessy's Rutland Road, pages 236-7, shows a building that looks similar but without the front porch at this location. |
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Moving southward now towards Maple St and the freight yards.
The three buildings in this photo existed in the photo on pages 236-7 of the Rutland Road, although they all appear to have been modified at some time or another. |
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This appeared to be one of the oldest buildings around in my travels. Little evidence around to figure out what it was used for, but my guess it would have been for storage or warehousing at some point. |
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Green Mountain 804, an EMD GP9R pointing northward in the Burlington yard. One of my few surviving shots from that day of the yard. Obviously means will have to do another trip there or several of them. |
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| The landmark City of Burlington power station as seen from Battery Park. |
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First shot is of the power lines leading down to the City of Burlington Power Station on the shores of Lake Champlain. Taken from Battery Park looking westward. New York State and the Adirondacks can be seen in the background.
The second shot is a close up view of Lone Rock Point just to the east of the Municipal Beach in Burlington. Adirondacks are in the distance. Port Kent is located across the lake and Wilsboro Bay is tucked behind the other far point on the left of the shot. |
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Looks like a pretty calm day on the Lake. This is a shot of the North Beacon on the Burlington Breakwater. This part of Lake Champlain is the widest part of the lake and the part my father and I sailed almost every weekend of the summer months in the early seventies.
I have many stories and memories of those years, but unfortunately they do not include any Champy sightings. Amongst those stories was a cold blustery day early one season where I was involved with rescueing ten people who had overturned in a canoe. The weather could turn ugly in a hurry here and it is not uncommon to see five to seven foot waves on the Lake. This weather phenonemon translates to frequent snow squalls in the winter. |
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In this shot we see the launch area for the Spirit of Ethan Allen III. I can't remember the name of the marina, although there have been many over the years in the area.
The Adirondacks are in the background. The Island would be Juniper Island with the small speck being Dunder Rock between the Island and Shelburne Point. Our home port was located just to the left on the end of the point. Shelburne Bay would continue inland further left and Oak Ledge would be on the eastside of the Bay. There are four other islands beyond Juniper Island which were known as the Four Brothers. |
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| Close up shot of the Ethan Allen III which offers cruise and dining on Lake Champlain. The breatwater southern beacon is also in the shot with a closer view of Shelburne Bay. The marina where we kept out boat is tucked around the corner from the small point on the right of the picture. Oak Leade point is on the left. |
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The first shot is how the southern part of the lakefront looks today. The Champlain Flyer station is shown in the foreground, the sewage treatmant plant is visible as well as where the drawbridge once stood.
In the second shot you can clearly see where the roundhouse stood and the buildings along Steele St. The Cahmplain Flyer station is now on the left and Oak Ledge is in the background. The main line runs between the Foundry and Oak Ledge.
Both shots were taken from Battery Park, so named historically for the defense of Burlington during the War of 1812. A good portion of the railroad workers in Burlington during the Rutland years lived in this area. |
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Copyright © 2007 Noramair |
