Chittenden County VT Archives History - Businesses .....Description Of Burlington 1891
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Industries and Wealth
OF
BURLINGTON.

BURLINGTON, the "Queen City" of New England, is in every feature a queen. With
mountains to the east of her and mountains to the west, and the most picturesque
of lakes at her feet, she stands indeed in imperial beauty, unrivalled in the
variety of her natural attractions. A writer in the American Journal of
Education says of Burlington: "The Queen City of Lake Champlain has the mountain
scenery of Scotland, the sky and sunsets of Italy, the valleys and verdure of
France, the lake views of Switzerland, and the quiet, park-like surroundings of
an English landscape. In a word, it is a gem set in an emerald ring of natural
beauty, which can hardly be equalled anywhere else in New England, and can be
excelled nowhere."

   The first settler who came into Burlington was Mr. Felix Powell, in the year
1773. On the 22d day of October, 1774, Mr. Powell purchased of Samuel Averill,
of Litchfield, Conn., in consideration of £30, a tract of land in Burlington.
From the close of the war with Great Britain the town was rapidly settled. Mr.
Erastus Bostwick, now about 94 years of age, says that when he first came to
Burlington some time previous to 1791, there were but three houses at the
village or bay, as it was then called; they were situated near the foot of Water
Street. Captain King kept tavern at the northeast corner of King and Water
streets, a two-story house with a kitchen in the rear; it was at this house that
the courts of Chittenden County were held for a few years after Burlington was
made a shire town. A Scotchman or Englishman named Grant was engaged in
mercantile business in a small, one-roomed log store; he kept cloths, groceries,
etc., for sale. A few logs fastened to the shore of the lake was the beginning
of the old wharf. Lumbermen had a few huts in the vicinity of the square, which
was covered with bushes and shrubbery with now and then a pine tree. It is
interesting to note that by the energy and enterprise of these strong and hardy
first settlers the foundations of the metropolis of Vermont were laid. The city
probably derived its name from a Burling family, who were among the first
settlers here, although this matter is a subject of doubt. Burlington is the
capital of Chittenden County, and the trade center of Lake Champlain. It is
situated at the only point (with one or two exceptions) where the railroad
system of the state touches Lake Champlain, and is the terminus of railroads
running to the seaboard and the commercial centers of New York, Boston,
Portland, Montreal and the West; is connected by lake navigation with the entire
Champlain Valley and Eastern New York, the outlet with ample railroad
connections of the rich valleys of the Winooski and Lamville Rivers and the
fertile counties of Western Vermont. With ample water-power within its limits,
with coal dumped on its docks direct from the coal fields, as cheaply as on the
Hudson, and water works supplying water under a powerful head, Burlington
affords unsurpassed facilities for mercantile and manufacturing business. No
city or village in New England surpasses Burlington in beauty of location. It is
situated on a hill whose gentle slope rises gradually back from the lake front
until its highest point is reached a mile from the shore. The principal streets
run east and west, and are intersected by numerous others extending north and
south, cutting the city into regular squares. Upon the highest point-College
Hill-is situated the University of Vermont, from whose lofty dome one of the
finest views of lake and mountain scenery in this country can be obtained.

   Burlington has a population of about 17,000 inhabitants, and its growth in
population and in the number of its buildings, is the result of the excellent
rail and water communication, the public spirit and intelligent enterprise of
its citizens and the excellence of its literary and charitable institutions,
together with the harmonious relations existing between employers and employees.
The city is kept inviting and healthy. Its streets are well lined with shade
trees, the water supply is pure and abundant, the police force prompt and
efficient in enforcing the laws, and the fire department, thoroughly organized,
and supplemented by the fire alarm telegraph and telephone, furnishes protection
to property. The streets are lighted by electricity. The letter-carrier system
is in operation, and convenient means of transit to the extreme limits of the
city and to Winooski is furnished by street railways.

   Few cities of its size have as many public improvements and institutions as
Burlington. The citizens may well feel proud of them and the good work they are
doing, and they are sure guarantees of the city's future advancement. Among
these public institutions, with a conservative estimate of their cost and fund
may be mentioned the following: University of Vermont, $500,000; Medical
College, $50,000; Billings Library Building, $150,000; Vermont Episcopal
Institute, $100,000; St. Joseph's College, $25,000; Park Gallery of Art,
$25,000; Fletcher Free Library, $50,000; Mary Fletcher Hospital, $450,000;
Howard Relief Association, $60,000; Home for Destitute Children, $200,000; Young
Men's Christian Association, $50,000; Howard Opera House, $100,000; Custom
House, $40,000; City Hall, $30,000; Court House, $75,000; Providence Orphan
Asylum, $100,000; Girls' School of Vermont Episcopal Institute, $60,000; Lake
View Retreat, $30,000; Burlington Cancer Relief, $20,000; Burlington Yacht Club
House, $5,000; ten churches, $475,000; nine school buildings, $130,000; total,
$2,725,000.

   Burlington has some elegant private residences of stately size with broad
grounds and ample lawns, and many tasteful though less costly ones. Few places
are so finely shaded, and it is a •common remark of visitors who ride about the
city, that they have rarely, if ever, seen a place of its size possessing so
many tasteful dwellings with such handsome surroundings.

   In addition to favorable geographical position and intimate connections with
the great transportation companies of the state, Burlington has the inherent
elements of a live and busy metropolis, exhibiting as it does a commercial
activity and a business prosperity to be found in no other inland city of its
size in the country.

PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

   The University library contains 35,475 volumes, which are stored in the
Billings library building. This building, noted for its architectural beauty,
was erected at an expense of $150,000. The Fletcher Free Library contains 17,500
volumes.

THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT.

   The University of Vermont, chartered by the Legislature in 1791, and
rechartered in 1865 as the "University of Vermont and State Agricultural
College," is classed among the older and leading colleges of the country. Its
grounds and buildings are valued at $275,000; its libraries collections and
apparatus at $100,000. It has invested funds, including lands and the
congressional grant, amounting to $365,000. Its annual income for the payment of
salaries and current expenses is $35,000. It receives from the state $6,000
annually for industrial instruction and the aid of poor students. The
institution has no indebtedness. The value of such an institution not only
financially, but as affording the very best facilities to the people for higher
education, and in giving character to the city wherever its name is mentioned,
cannot be over-estimated.

   Its graduates and those of the medical department, which is also in a most
flourishing condition, may be found in all parts of the country and are ever
ready to bear witness to the excellence of its course of study and to the many
educational advantages of Burlington.

   The Vermont Episcopal Institute and the girls' school in connection
therewith, St. Joseph's College, and the Burlington Commercial College, are all
in most successful operation and are patronized by large numbers.

   Professor Sauvers' Summer School of Languages is now permanently located here
and brings to Burlington from five hundred to six hundred students during the
summer months.

BANKING.

National banks (two).
      Capital           $  800,000
      Surplus              160,000
      Deposits           1,200,000

Savings bank and trust companies (two).
      Amounts              2,200,000

INSURANCE AGENCIES.
Capital represented.
      Fire Companies           $150,000,000
      Life Companies            252,000,000

TRADE AND MANUFACTURES.
    From a tabular statement of the latest and best authority we gather the
following facts as to the trade and manufactures alone of Burlington.
      Amount of capital employed                           $  5,512,050
      Amount of sales and product                            13,358,900
      Number of employees               3677
      Monthly pay roll                                          117,547
      The annual wages paid to employees amounts to           1,410,564

   These results are largely due to the freedom of Burlington from strikes and
labor troubles, which, history proves, invariably work disaster to business and
recoil most severely on the laboring classes.

   The lumber firms represent a capital of $4,000,000, and employ in their
business in this city $1,500,000. The lumber sold and shipped from Burlington
annually amounts to 150,000,000 feet.

WATER WORKS.

   Burlington is supplied with water from Lake Champlain, which is forced to
reservoirs 300 feet above the level of the lake, which gives an excellent head
of water in every house in the city, besides being ample in case of fire. The
capacity of the reservoirs is over 6,000,000 gallons. The water taxes are paid
by the consumers directly to the city treasurer, the rates being as low as any
city and much lower than many. Water is distributed through thirty-one miles of
main to every part of the city, and there are 175 hydrants, affording ample
protection, against fire.

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.

   Burlington's fire department consists of six companies, one of which is a
hook and ladder company. It is well organized and disciplined and is second to
no volunteer organization of its kind in the country; and it has shown itself
capable of most efficient service in arresting and preventing the spread of
conflagrations. The annual expense of the entire department, including the fire
alarm telegraph, is only about $4,500. The streets are regular and tastefully
laid out, making more than fifty miles of road in the city most of which is
either paved or macadamized. The streets are lighted with 113 arc electric
lights of 2000 candle power each, at an annual expense of about $9,000.

PUBLIC PARKS.

   Burlington is highly favored in having so many large and beautiful public
parks. City Hall Park, near the center of the city, is in the form of a square
and embraces about two acres. It is surrounded by the leading hotels, Fletcher
Free Library, Ethan Allen Engine House, Y. M. C. A. building, banks and various
mercantile establishments. In the northern part of the city, on a bluff
overlooking Lake Champlain, is Battery Park. During the war of 1812, when the
English menaced Plattsburg, the public stores were removed to Burlington, and a
battery was placed on the site of Battery Park; hence the name. Queen City Park
and Howard Park, the former a popular resort for picnic parties, are to the
south of the city.

TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.

   Burlington enjoys superior transportation facilities and is admirably
situated for commerce. It lies on the direct line of navigation by the lakes and
canals between Montreal and New York, and during nine months of the year its
products and manufactures can be shipped to the largest cities by water,
including those on the great lakes, and by the same means of transportation is
received the larger proportion of its raw material, lumber, coal and other
necessaries. Railway lines radiate in every direction, and there is no city of
importance that cannot be reached from here by almost a direct route. Three
lines of railroad, the Central Vermont, Burlington & Lamville, and Rutland &
Burlington enter the city; and directly across Lake Champlain, ten miles
distant, and connected by boats, is the railroad of the Delaware & Hudson Canal
Co. The Champlain Transportation Co. has its headquarters in Burlington and its
steamers are among the largest and most elegant on inland waters. They run in
connection with the D. & H. Railroad, Lake George steamers, and Hudson River
steamers, transporting large amounts of freight and affording a most delightful
trip through the lake to the large numbers who select this route for business
and pleasure travel.

AS A PLACE OF RESIDENCE.

   This city, from her favorable location, her advantageous surroundings, her
commercial facilities, her business opportunities, her manufactures, her
solidity, her advantages as a shipping and distributing point, her wealth, the
intelligence, culture, taste, refinement and moral advancement of her people;
the public and private enterprise, her excellent sanitary condition, her
metropolitan advantages; in short, the thousand and one things that tend to make
a city a desirable place of residence, is beginning to attract the attention of
people from abroad who have learned of the place. As a result, a tide of capital
and business industry and enterprise is gradually settling in this direction,
which will assist very materially in building up at this point a city destined
at no distant day to take a prominent place among the inland cities of America.
The inhabitants of Burlington are composed very largely of mechanics,
tradesmen,- "sons of toil." The wealth is more equally distributed among the
citizens than in larger and more densely populated cities. There are many
wealthy people and but few really poor.

   Situated in the midst of the beautiful Champlain Valley, and surrounded on
all sides, far and near, by the most populous, wealthiest, and best agricultural
county to be found in the state, Burlington enjoys a local or domestic revenue
from beyond her limits unequalled anywhere. Socially and morally Burlington will
compare favorably with any city in the world. Her citizens are in the main
church-going people, and as a result the city is adorned with many elegant and
costly places of worship, the following denominations being represented: two
Congregational, two Baptist, Episcopal, St. Mary's Cathedral (R. C), St.
Joseph's (French). The Baptists have a French mission and there is a Jewish
synagogue. The public schools of the city are of such a character as to cause
the citizens to speak of them with pride. These, together with the numerous
schools of a higher grade, have had a tendency to raise the social and moral
standard of the people. Four newspapers are published here beside the University
Cynic, which is a monthly college publication. The different lines of railroads
that center in this city and the shipping facilities by boat indicate the
advantages of Burlington as a shipping point, and the opportunities for rapid
and convenient travel could not well be improved. The mechanics and laboring men
of Burlington generally own houses of their own, and as a consequence houses can
be rented at reasonable rates. Shabby or unsightly tenement houses are almost
unknown in Burlington.

   Statistics prove that Burlington is one of the most healthful cities on the
American Continent. Its climate is pure and genial, the temperature being
modified and regulated by the mountains and lake. The city is subject to no
prevailing diseases. The location is admirable for complete drainage, and its
sanitary condition is well regulated by an efficient board of health. The
manufacturing facilities of this city, with her opportunities and advantages as
a shipping point, afford the capitalist and manufacturer a brilliant prospect,
while her educational, moral, social and sanitary advantages render Burlington a
most desirable place for residence. This then, is our "Queen City," the
Burlington of to-day.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

INDUSTRIES AND WEALTH OF THE PRINCIPAL POINTS IN VERMONT,
BEING
BURLINGTON, WINOOSKI, RUTLAND, WEST RUTLAND, BRANDON, FAIR HAVEN, POULTNEY,
CASTLETON, ST. ALBANS, SWANTON, ENOSBURG FALLS, BRATTLEBORO, BELLOWS FALLS,
MONTPELIER, BARRE, WATERBURY, ST. JOHNSBURY, LYNDONVILLE, LYNDON, HARDWICK,
BENNINGTON, SPRINGFIELD, WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VERGENNES, MIDDLEBURY, NORTHFIELD
AND MORRISVILLE.

1891.

PUBLISHED BY
AMERICAN PUBLISHING AND ENGRAVING CO.,
(ELEVATORS.)
Nos. 149 AND 151 CHURCH STREET, NEW YORK.


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