Renovate and Relocate!
The Putney Historical Society will be relocating to the Town Hall but we first need to rehabilitate the upstairs and make it accessible. This is a major undertaking and we are working with the town to raise the funds needed for renovation of the entire building.
Please help us create our new home! Donations can be made at https://putneyhistory.us/donations/
Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn
May 14 at 7 PM
On Tues., May 14, at 7:00 p.m. in celebration of Preservation Month, The Landmark Trust USA will host noted scholar and vernacular architecture historian Thomas C. Hubka to speak on his seminal book Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn. The lively and informative presentation will take place at Next Stage Arts and will be simultaneously live streamed online. The program is supported in part by Vermont Humanities.
The book, which received the Abbot Lowell Cummings Award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum, has been in continuous publication for 40 years and has become a scholarly and popular standard for New England architectural history and cultural studies. This engaging talk will highlight the four essential components of these stately and beautiful connected farm buildings made by nineteenth-century New Englanders that stand today as a living expression of a rural culture, offering insights into the people who made them and their agricultural way of life. It will feature numerous local examples. Books will be available for purchase and signing by the author.
For more information and to register for the livestream, visit https://landmarktrustusa.org/events. No registration is required to attend in person at Next Stage.
Made in Putney: A Boot Warmer
The Putney Historical Society recently received a donation of a boot warmer that was made in Putney during the early 20th century. The boot warmer was donated by John Anderson of Dummerston.
A fragmentary label indicates it was made in Putney but lacks any other information. The item is clearly handmade, possibly from scraps of galvanized sheet metal. It was designed to be placed over a heating vent to dry boots and shoes. Mr. Anderson states it likely was for sale at his grandfather’s (Hastings A. Williams) general store in Williamsville, that operated until 1945. Mr. Williams was known to prefer to carry goods made locally. If anyone has any information on who may have made and marketed this handy item, please let us know.
Summer 2023 Newsletter
Our Summer 2023 Newsletter takes a look at Putney in the 1960’s, with memories of Windham College, maps of early Windham College buildings within the town, and reminiscences of cultural tensions between the so-called hippies and the so-called rednecks.
Bill Darrow’s account of the Washburns in Putney continues with Chapter 3, which explores the rift created in the Washburn family by John Humphrey Noyes and his radical religious sect during the Second Great Awakening.
Lastly, we share news of partnering with the Town of Putney to explore renovation of the historic town hall, and the inclusion of one of our historic photographs in Ken Burns’ new book Our America: A Photographic History.
Putney in the History in the 252 Project
The Vermont Historical Society initiated their History in the 252 project. The Putney Historical Society submitted information on John Humphrey Noyes that was included in the project website: https://vermonthistory.org/history-in-the-252.
Keep an eye out for the next PHS newsletter that will include an article by Bill Darrow that continues his history of the Washburn family and goes into considerable depth on their involvement with Noyes.
Support the Putney Historical Society
Please consider becoming a member or renewing your membership or simply making a tax-deductible gift.
Your support will help us create a long-term home in the upstairs of the Putney Town Hall. We are working with the town to plan and renovate the historic building to make both floors accessible as well as fully functional for us, the town, and the community. We hope to have a research area, exhibit and event space, an office and artifact storage. Meanwhile, we will continue adding digitized images and historic documents to our website.
The Washburns in Putney
The Washburn brothers were grandchildren of Asa and Sally (Upham) Washburn, early Putney settlers present for the first United States Census in 1790. For four or five generations members of the family did extraordinary things. Two chapters of this narrative by Bill Darrow are available here:
Chapter 1 begins with Asa and Sally (Upham) Washburn settling in Putney in 1785 and focuses on Asa and Sally’s son Seth Washburn and his wife Rebecca Paine. Rebecca had eight sons with Seth before dying of Tuberculosis in 1828 at age 41. The following year Seth returned to Putney and married Martha “Patty” Campbell. Seth and Patty had seven more sons on the Randolph Center farm. Chapter 1 closed as Seth and Patty’s large family enjoyed it’s last year together in 1840.
Bill Darrow’s second installment on the Washburn family traces the fortunes of the large family as many children spread from Vermont across the country. Their mother/stepmother Patty returned to Putney with seven young children during a time of religious and social turmoil during the Second Great Awakening of the first half of the 19th century. Amidst this religious fervor John Humphrey Noyes Perfectionist teachings were becoming controversial in Putney and some members of the family were caught up in the controversy.
The third chapter of Bill Darrow’s book about the Washburn family explores the rift created by John Humphrey Noyes and his radical religious sect of Bible Communism. This chapter delves into the historical context of the Second Great Awakening.
A Snapshot in Time
Amongst the hundreds of photographs in the PHS collection, taken in the late 19th- and early 20th centuries, are photos of families and friends gathered on the porches and front yards of Putney’s homes. These photos are a snapshot in time of residents, some identified and many not, throughout our community.
The Putney Historical Society is asking Putney residents to carry on this tradition, and update our town’s historical record, by submitting family photographs taken in front of their homes.
Gather your family, take your photo and send it to putneyhistory@gmail.com!
Details of Putney
A closer look at the old glass plate negatives reveals so many intriguing details! Read more >
Historic Walking Tour of Putney’s Pre-Civil War Architecture
This beautifully illustrated guide to Putney’s Pre-Civil War Architecture features 21 buildings in the downtown, Kimball Hill and Westminster Road area. The guide includes a numbered map, original drawings by local artists and a short history of each building.
The guide is available at the Putney Historical Society, the Putney General Store, the Putney Coop and other locations around town and can be downloaded here: Historic Walking Tour Brochure.
Or download the Numbered Map and follow along on your smart phone here.
The Putney Historical Society Office
The Putney Historical Society office is located in the Town Hall, Main Street.
Office hours are by appointment only. To set up an appointment, email us at putneyhistory@gmail.com.
We have a great collection of historic photos, genealogical and land records and many historic objects. If you have research needs please email us at putneyhistory@gmail.com.
