Bristol, Vermont
Carolyn Ashby and Nancy Luke, at the Art on Main Gallery in Bristol, urged me to take photographs of Bristol for use on my greeting cards. I decided to research and explore the town just as I would as a traveler on vacation, and create this journal. Where better to post it than here in the "Travel" category? The original intent has not been forgotten - most of these photographs are available in the gallery as greeting cards. Several are also available as small matted prints, and a couple have been printed as large fine art prints and framed.
Welcome to Bristol
Bristol is approximately 27 miles south of Burlington and 12 miles north of Middlebury. North/south route 116 passes through town, briefly becoming Main Street, and is joined by west/east route 17, which merges south of the village from the west and diverges north of the village toward the east. This welcome sign is on routes 116 and 17 north of the village. Chartered in 1762 as Pocock, the name of the town was changed to Bristol in 1789.
Bristol Gap
Bristol village nestles in a gap between Deerleap Mountain to the north and South Mountain in Bristol Cliffs Wilderness Area to the south. Bristol gap is seen in this photo looking east from the high point of route 17 between Addison and Bristol, near the New Haven Fire Department building. The ridge of the Green Mountains is in the background, with Mount Abraham on the right.
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Deerleap Vista
Bristol village, with Main Street in the lower left, seen from the cliffs on the west side of Deerleap Mountain. In the background are the Champlain Valley, Snake Mountain, Lake Champlain under early morning fog, and the distant Adirondack Mountains.
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Bristol Main Street
Main Street, seen here from Holley Hall clock tower with Deerleap Mountain in the background, is one block long. Routes 116 and 17 change name from West Street at one end of the block, to Main Street, and to East Street at the other end.
Holley Hall
Holley Hall, with its distinctive clock tower visible from most directions, is on the southwest corner of the junction of Main, North, South and West Streets. Holley Hall was built in 1884 on land given to the town by Cornelia Smith, and named by her after her father, Winter Holley, a descendant of Robert Holley who arrived in Bristol in 1795. As well as being at the physical center of the village, this historic building is the Town Hall and thus also a center of Bristol politics and social life.
Holley Hall Clock Tower
A close look (with a telephoto lens) at one of Bristols most prominent features.
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Bristol Branch, Bank of Middlebury
Deerleap Mountain looms over the Bristol Branch of the National Bank of Middlebury, on Main Street. The Deerleap Vista cliffs can be seen near the left side.
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Bobcat Cafe Sign
The unique Bobcat Cafe sign on the south side of Main Street with Holley Hall clock tower in the background. Renovation of the Bobcat was financed through sale of shares to Bristol townspeople.
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Street Signs, North Side of Main Street
This photograph was taken from far down Main Street to the east using a telephoto lens, compressing the apparent spacing between the signs of places of business.
Main Street South Sidewalk
Colorful merchandise and store signs line the south side of Main Street.
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Kilbourn's Cyclone Grist Mill
This is the tower of the old mill, behind Kimball Office Services on the south side of Main Street. Built in 1896, rebuilt after a fire in 1924, and closed in 1969, the old mill is now used as apartment and professional studio space.
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Bristol Railroad Depot
Built in 1893, the depot served passengers and freight for the town until the railroad stopped running in 1930. The depot was then sold by auction and converted to a private residence. As seen here, the portico works well as a sheltered space to dry the laundry!
Howden Hall and the Bristol House Coach
Howden Hall was built in 1841 as a Congregational Meeting House. It has since seen use as a store and a school, and is now a community center and the home of the Bristol Historical Society. The coach was used from the 1880's to the 1920's to transport guests between the railroad station and the Bristol House Inn, then across the street where the park is today.
Bristol's Masonic Lodge
Built in 1898 as the home of the Congregational Society of Bristol, this North Street buillding is now Bristol's Masonic Lodge.
The Bosworth Homestead
One of the first wood frame buildings in Bristol was built at the northeast corner of the village green in 1794. This home, located on that site, was completed in 1830 incorporating parts of the original building. The motto "Animus Valet" (The Spirit Conquers) was added by resident David Bosworth, founder in 1878 of The Bristol Manufacturing Company and an active Adventist minister.
Chief and Spud
In one of the most striking examples of Bristols uniqueness, every Friday morning Pat Palmer's team, Chief and Spud, thread the streets to pick up trash. As seen here, they provide a popular attraction as well as a town service.
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Bristol Rock
In 1891, Doctor Joseph C. Green, reportedly offended by language used by drivers of horses bringing wagonloads of lumber to market from sawmills in the hills, employed a stonecutter to create this engraving. Another story has it that in his youth the doctor had himself been a teamster, and had said a prayer of thanks each time he safely reached this point on the trip down the mountain.
Bartletts Falls
On hot summer days, families (and teens bold enough to dive from the rocks) gather at Bartletts Falls on the New Haven River. Many young couples seek out smaller and more secluded pools. In the heyday of water power, the falls was once the site of a large dam and several industries, as evidenced by remains of foundations and conduits too large to have been washed away even by the mighty periodic floods this river suffers.
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Bartletts Falls Explorers
Young explorers, daring each other on.
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Mount Abraham Union High School
This photograph was taken from the Deerleap Vista ledges as school buses delivered students to Mount Abraham Union High School for the first day of a new school year, September 1, 2009.
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Deerleap Cliffs
These rugged cliffs on the east side of Deerleap Mountain are nesting ground for several pair of perigrine falcons. Trails to the cliffs are closed and monitored during nesting season to assure that the birds are not disturbed.
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Bristol Main Street
Main Street, seen here from Holley Hall clock tower with Deerleap Mountain in the background, is one block long. Routes 116 and 17 change name from West Street at one end of the block, to Main Street, and to East Street at the other end.
