80 Years and Still Going Strong: The Putney Community Center

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By Laurel Ellis and Leon Cooper, August, 2005

The history of the Putney Community Center can be said to rightly begin even before the construction of the Baptist Meeting House Church which was to become its home.

The 1883 Meeting House deed indicates that a one-family dwelling house was already standing on the site where the Church was slated to be built. A close examination of the present structure makes a strong case for the rear portion of the building being in fact the dwelling house referred to in the 1883 deed. An exterior-wall window is still visible from the interior stairway leading to the second floor, making it clear that the rear part of the building must have once stood as an independent structure.

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Olive Frost

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By Laurel Ellis, August 23, 2006

In our busy here and now it’s hard to imagine how different everything will be at some unknown time in the future. Today’s minor hardships could even be remembered with a touch of nostalgia for the related memories of simpler and otherwise happy times. Sometimes it’s someone else’s memory that enriches our sense of everyday life at a time and place we could never experience first hand. Like a good novel but much more real. Such was the feeling enjoyed when talking with Olive Frost in August, 2006.

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Pierce’s Hall

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According to three documents written around 1953 for the first Putney town history, the beautiful brick building known as Pierce’s Hall was erected in 1831, “for a Methodist meeting house.”  It has a foundation of long, beam-shaped granite slabs hauled from West Dummerston, and the brick came from Timothy Underwood’s brickyard on River Road.  When the second meeting house was built in 1842, the Hall was sold to Leroy Pierce, “who used it for storage of corn, and kept sheep underneath the building.”  There are some records of dances held in the building earlier than 1873, and in 1880 Norman and Mary (Carr) Cobb celebrated their wedding at the Hall.  “It is stated that their six sons…drew their parents down in a sleigh from their home to the gala event.”  Around 1881, the building was refurbished for use as a meeting house.

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Deaccessioning

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Procedure adopted Oct. 19, 2005

a. Deaccessioning is the removal of an object from a museum’s permanent collection. It is a standard museum procedure, but it is a serious undertaking which requires careful consideration by both the staff and the Board of Trustees. The Putney Historical Society museum has deaccessioned objects from the permanent collections and will continue to do so in order to remain a viable institution.

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Board of Directors, ’13-’14

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Ruth Barton, President ’14 Tim Ragle, Vice President ’14 Tom Jamison, Treasurer ’14 Stuart Strothman, Secretary ’14 Barry Stockwell ’15 Betsy MacIsaac ’16 Laurel Ellis ’16 Leah Toffolon ’16 Lindley Speers ’16 Lyssa Papazian ’14 Barbara Taylor ’14 Maryanne Toffolon ’14

Veteran’s Photo Album

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This album is currently on display in the entry of the Putney Town Hall.  At the time of the dedication of the Putney Veteran’s Memorial in 2003,Laurel Ellis and Marilyn Loomis collected as many pictures as possible of men and women whose names are carved on the memorial. It was not possible to get pictures … Read more

Ellie Lascore: Waitress, Putney Diner

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Interview and transcription by Paul Levasseur, April 2007

This is the best job in the world for anybody like me.

I had a very tough childhood, but as I grew older it got better, through my work. That’s what made me happy, I found out.

This is the best job in the world for anybody like me. You know, you can meet nice people, you have a good time, and you get paid for having a good time! I mean I just met so many wonderful people, and it’s never been a job for me. It’s been a good time, all the time. My kids can’t get over that, or anyone that knows me can’t get over that.

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Obsidian in Vermont: Analysis of an Arrowhead in the Gerald Coane Collection

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by Matthew T. Boulanger, Archaeometry Laboratory, University of Missouri Research Reactor and Thomas R. Jamison, Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc., Putney, Vermont

Introduction

Archaeologists are particularly interested in identifying evidence of prehistoric long-distance trade and exchange, and artifacts made from stone are some of the best records of such exchange because they can be traced back to specific geological outcrops. Archaeologists often develop an intuitive knowledge about the types of stone and their potential sources that were used prehistorically. In Vermont for example, most archaeologists recognize quartzite from the Cheshire formation or chert from the Champlain Valley. But, when archaeologists encounter an artifact made from stone not found in their region of inquiry, they use the term “exotic” to describe it.

Occurrences of so-called exotic artifacts are not uncommon in Vermont.

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July 27 07

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Present: Ruth, Laurel, Tom, Jane, Stuart

Sept 23rd, Sunday at 2 for annual meeting—possibly at Community Center—need to call Rosemary Bryant 387-6002 to confirm.

Nominating committee—Ruth, Jane, Laurel. They’ll come up with the slate. New board member to be, Maryanne Toffolon. Need other new members.

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No Move to Pierce’s Hall

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In case you haven’t heard, the board of PHS determined that the historical society could not coexist with the monthly contra dances held at Pierce’s Hall.  The East Putney Community Club was very generous to offer to share the space of the Hall, especially considering the historical society’s recent difficulty in finding a place to … Read more