St. Johnsbury, Vermont Sites with Tigers, and Bears, Oh My

A recent visit to St. Johnsbury, Vermont to see a library surprised me because I then discovered there were a lot more things to see in this lovely city. I hope to prove it by sharing my photos.

Within a few blocks of entering St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont,  we came across the Maple Grove Farms Sugar House Museum. The factory is behind the sign, and unfortunately, they stopped giving factory tours about seven years ago. The museum is behind where I stood for this photo, but they do give out samples of maple candy.

Downtown streets.

Welcome Center, St. Johnsbury

The Chamber of Commerce, Town Clerk and Treasurer's Office are housed in the old Railroad Station, shown below.

Town clerk's office to the right.

Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium

(We toured the museum, but didn't go to the planetarium, due to time constraints.)

2nd floor. The ceiling was amazing.

Numbers 17 (Athenaeum) and 3 (Fairbanks Museum) were circled by a Vermont visitor's center employee on route 91. Whole map of area not shown above.

My previous post covers the beautiful Library also known as an Athenaeum. Visiting this building is a must! Please read about it.

An Athenaeum  --  A great combination of Art, Books, and a Poole's Corner!

An Athenaeum -- A great combination of Art, Books, and a Poole's Corner!

About a year ago, somebody told me I should visit the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum and Library because it is so beautiful. But, a visit to St. Johnsbury, Vermont would take a little planning because of the distance from Massachusetts, and I wanted to incorporate the visit with a possible trip to Canada. As we all do, I googled for some city information, and saw photos of the inside...the library was beautiful, but oh, I didn't know about all the artwork and their world-famous 10 x 15-foot masterpiece by Albert Bierstadt. Then, I read that my ancestor, William Frederick Poole had a hand in selecting the first books for the library! So, for all those reasons, I knew I had to visit. And visit soon, since the painting, The Domes of the Yosemite, painted 1867, would be moved soon to have conservation work done and would return in the summer, of 2018.

St. Johnsbury Athenaeum

1171 Main Street

St. Johnsbury, VT 05819

802-748-8291

Web page: https://www.stjathenaeum.org

The above large room is the art gallery with art and sculpture displayed everywhere you looked throughout the library. The masterpiece in the center, The Domes of the Yosemite, is by Albert Bierstadt and is moved out from the wall for inspection and a future move from the building to have conservation work done on it. The YouTube short video explains the work that needs to be done (very interesting).

Facebook message from the director on February 28, 2024.

The view is from the art gallery looking towards the library.
Below, are five views of the beautiful architecture. 

All the windows have wooden interior shutters, to block out the sunlight and the walls are black walnut. "The floors are two kinds of wood: black walnut and ash." Per the director.

I was informed that the library catalog was printed in 1875, and about 8,000 books of the books listed were recommended to the first director of the Athenaeum by my 2nd great-grandfather, William Frederick Poole. One of the librarians, Shara, told me the book, Catalogue of the Library of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum was online and allowed me to take a picture of her hard copy. Use the link above to view. Per Wikipedia: "The library’s book collection, originally consisting of 8,000 finely bound volumes selected with the advice of the noted bibliographer W.F. Poole, has been expanded to include nearly 45,000 volumes." 

My husband and I returned to the library the following day because I had more questions and had to retake a few photos. It was fortunate that we did because I got to meet Bob Joly, the Athenaeum Director. I mentioned my ancestor, and he knew exactly who he was. As a matter of fact, mentioned the Poole corner, just a few feet from where we were standing! I was told the books (see above) are part of the original collection that Mr. Poole recommended to the library. There about 1,000 in storage and all are originals with leather binding. Eventually, they will be brought back into the library. Finding new information about his life is pretty exciting, and is something I can now share with my other Poole cousins.

One of several reading rooms. (Poole's corner on the right.)

Portrait of Horace Fairbanks*

I love the old file cabinets, filled with cards from years gone by. 

Entrance to the second floor, non-fiction books are there.

* From Wikipedia: Horace Fairbanks (March 21, 1820 – March 17, 1888) was an American politician and the 36th Governor of Vermont from 1876 to 1878.

In 1871 Fairbanks presented to St. Johnsbury the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, which incorporates a free public library containing 8,000 volumes and an art gallery. He was a trustee of the University of Vermont and Andover Academy.

His brother Franklin was Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives, and their philanthropic activities in St. Johnsbury and throughout Vermont led to creation of the Fairbanks Museum and the endowment of numerous libraries and other institutions.

UPSDATE:  From the Orlando Sentinel, February 21, 2018, see link below.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/arts-and-theater/the-artistic-type/os-et-domes-yosemite-morse-museum-20180213-story.html

The Athenaeum is a few blocks from this spot. In a few days, I'll write about other things to see in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The post has been written and is called, "St. Johnsbury, Vermont Sites with Tigers, and Bears, Oh My" as seen on the previous link.

Great Animation Showing Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration

Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration (1 dot = 10,000 people)

http://metrocosm.com/us-immigration-history-map.html

(Click on above link.)

Here’s Everyone Who’s Immigrated to the U.S. Since 1820

"From 1820 to 2013, 79 million people obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States. The interactive map below visualizes all of them based on their prior country of residence. The brightness of a country corresponds to its total migration to the U.S. at the given time.

Use the controls at the bottom to stop / resume the animation or to move back and forth in time."

Thanks to Robert Forrant, facebook friend from Lowell, MA who posted this yesterday. Sharing was encouraged, and I thought some genealogy friends would enjoy seeing this.