Originally Published in the Spring 2001 . . .

Remember that classic Budweiser commercial? The one where the team of four Clydesdale horses pulls a wagonload of beer and fir trees down the main street of a picturesque New England village? The producers of the ad did enhance the wintry scene with some plastic snow, but the setting was no Hollywood sound stage - it was Grafton, Vermont, a town that has set the standard for historic preservation in a state known for valuing its unique past.

Grafton's Main Street, where those Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales tromped in 1986, boasts a wealth of buildings that are more than just museum pieces, they are part of a living community. A good example is the Grafton Library. Coming in from the east side of town, the library dominates the corner where Main Street is met by the road out to Kidder Hill Covered Bridge. (Only one of a handful of covered bridges in the area to survive since 1869, it was reconstructed when laminated beams were added to the interior in 1994.).

The Grafton Library was originally built as the home for one of Grafton's most prominent early citizens - John L. Butterfield. Butterfield was the town physician and he built the house in 1811 with the money from his thriving medical practice. His son, Lewis Butterfield, continued the tradition of prosperity by becoming part owner of the local soapstone quarry. Soapstone mining was a booming industry in the 1840s, and Grafton was one of the two largest producers in the United States.

The Butterfield home passed from one generation to the next until 1955, when the town library, which had been incorporated nearly a hundred years before, took up residence there. The new spacious quarters came at no cost to Grafton's taxpayers, as an endowment had been made possible by a generous financial gift. In 1949, Miss Lucy J.C. Daniels willed almost $75,000 to the library. "Miss Lou" as she was affectionately called was also one of the town's most prominent citizens. Born in 1858, she studied law and was an ardent advocate of women's rights. In 1913 she organized the first rally for woman's suffrage in Grafton. According to one account, Miss Lou used to pay a number of young girls fifty cents a piece to attend Town Meetings "because by the time they grew up they would be allowed to vote."

Continuing west up Main Street and also on the left sets the Grafton Village Store. At one time Grafton had four general stores. Captain John Barrett, a former member of the New Hampshire militia, was the first man to establish a store here in 1816 (in the building that now houses the Town Hall and Post Office.) Captain Barrett, like the previously mentioned Dr. Butterfield, was not welcomed at first by the town selectmen, but went on to attain the respect and trust of the community. The present-day Grafton Village Store was built in 1841 by the Captain's nephew, George Barrett. Retiring from storekeeping, George Barrett sold the business to Edward L. Walker, who sold it to Walter E. L. Walker, who owned it for 26 years. In 1882, Grafton's first telegraph line was installed at this store. An eight-word telegraph to neighboring Bellows Falls cost fifteen cents.

In 1909, Francis A. Palmer, author of Grafton's first published history, purchased Walker’s Store and ran it until his death in 1950. "Palm" was a well-liked, lively storekeeper who opened up at six so that men could buy their tobacco for the day, and stayed open late for political debates and checker matches. The F. A. Palmer Cash Store was a focal point of Grafton life in the 1930s, and with the generous help of organizations such as the Bunbury Company and the Windham Foundation, this village store has kept its doors open throughout the years and continues to be a thriving center of community activities.

Across Main Street from the town store is the Grafton Historical Society Museum. Known as the Stowell/Mead House, the building itself is an interesting example of "plank" construction. It was made by piling two-by-fours one on top of the other horizontally, with clapboards over the outside. This technique makes for strong and well-insulated buildings, but uses a lot of wood - not a problem in 1840s Vermont.

"The Grafton Historical Society was organized on August 2, 1962, to keep alive the memory of the sturdy men and women who turned a wilderness into a heritage of which the people of Grafton are proud and to pass on the knowledge of that heritage to succeeding generations." So wrote Helen Pettengill, author of A History of Grafton, 1754-1985, about the organization she and her husband Samuel helped to found. The society began renting the Stowell/Mead house for a museum in 1978, after the Windham Foundation had purchased and restored it to its original beauty.

Just up Main Street on the same side as the historical society museum is the Post Office and Town Clerk's Office. Also housed in this impressive old 1816 building is a museum of natural history. This was the location of Captain John Barrett's first village store. In the 1820s, John Barrett's store dominated local trade. It listed 862 customers, most of who were buying for large families. The Captain's widow sold the building to the town in 1857, and it was shared at the time among civic offices, a library, and the federal post office.

Back on the left hand side of Main Street, occupying the space beyond where it is intersected by Townsend Road, is one of Vermont's most historically renowned buildings: The Old Tavern at Grafton.

In 1788 Samuel Spring was voted a license to sell liquor on this site. Enos Lovell owned the property in 1801 and decided to convert his two-story home into an inn. Both Grafton and the tavern prospered. When Hyman Burgess took over in 1823, the building had doubled in size. Brothers Francis and Harlan Phelps bought the tavern in 1865, and ran it for the next 48 years. In 1867, they welcomed Ulysses S. Grant as their most famous guest. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Rudyard Kipling would also stay at the hotel. Trials were held at the inn, which accommodated visiting judges and lawyers. The Phelps brothers added a third story and porches before their era of proprietorship ended. Despite the efforts of subsequent owners, the tavern entered a period of decline.

In 1965, the Old Tavern was purchased by the Windham Foundation and restored with modern amenities. The guest rooms are free of telephones and televisions so that visitors to Grafton can find the inn, which is listed in the "Historic Hotels of America," a quiet and refreshing retreat.

Just before Main Street meets the fork that foretells its end on the west side of town, the steeples of Grafton's two churches rise up to the sky. Grafton's Baptist citizens built the White Church in 1858, on the opposite side of the street from the Brick Church of the Congregationalists. Local Congregationalists built their first church in 1792, on Middleton Hill. By the early 1830s, that meetinghouse was in need of repair, and a debate started over whether a new church should be built in the valley. Captain John Barrett wanted to see the Congregationalist Church move from the hill to the lower village, and when the Brick Church and its Chapel were built in 1833, he paid for half of the $4,000 construction cost. A liberal supporter of the church, Barrett also paid for one-quarter of the minister's salary.

Grafton's Baptists built their first church in the lower village in 1814. They built the White Church forty-four years later. By the 1870s, the Baptist Women's Aid Society was providing support to preachers and sponsoring repairs to the church and parsonage. In those early years in Grafton the Baptists and Congregationalists each attended their own church, but by 1920 neither of the two factions were large enough or rich enough to continue on their own. As a solution, they formed the Federated Church of Grafton. By doing this, the two churches could operate with one minister who would hold services for six months of the year in each church. Today, the White Church is used in the winter and the Brick Church, which does not have central heating, is used in the summer.

Nestled in the wedge of land that is formed by the forking roads at the west end of town is the Grafton Village Cemetery. This was little used until the 1830s, when the center of town was established here, but plots dating back to the 1780s can be found by going up the hill on Middletown Road to the Settlers' First Cemetery.

Grafton has six cemeteries in all. In 1986, Jean Whitnack and a team of volunteers from the Grafton Historical Society began a project of recording the inscriptions on every headstone and footstone. These records continue to be updated annually. One of Grafton's most famous grave markers is a slate tablet carved in 1803 by master stonecutter Moses Wright, Jr., who worked in the nearby town of Rockingham. The slate was commissioned by Thomas Park to memorialize his wife Rebecca and fourteen of their children - thirteen of whom had died unnamed. The Park stone is considered one of the finest examples of early New England iconography and folk art in existence, and a reproduction can be found in the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City. A pamphlet, Releasing Rebecca, tells the story of the Park family and is available from the Grafton Historical Society Museum.

Amongst the burial markers in these graveyards can be found evidence of service to war. Some fought on American soil, for Independence or for the cause of Union. Others were sent to foreign lands. In Grafton, their sacrifice is remembered on a fixed day every year. Decoration Day, or Memorial Day, does not shift to allow for longer weekends. It is always celebrated on May 30^th. In 1868, that date became a national holiday for decorating the graves of Civil War veterans. Grafton had sent one in three of its sons to fight, a larger percentage than any other town in the state, and it was a ceremony they took to heart. One resident of Grafton, Daisy Turner, praised the "true white men" that went from Vermont to help free enslaved blacks.

Like many other New England towns, Grafton is believed to have been part of the Underground Railroad, a system of assisting fugitive slaves to freedom. At least three homes, such as the John Barrett house on Main Street, may have been stops on the freedom trail.

Grafton is a town with a rich past, and through the dedicated contributions of its own citizens and the invaluable assistance of organizations like the Windham Foundation, the knowledge of that heritage will pass on to succeeding generations. In this journal I have taken you down only one street of this historic town--its Main Street. That leaves all the interesting back roads to explore. I encourage you to hitch up the team and go for a ride.




Map of Grafton from "Grafton Vermont . . . find yourself" brochure; edited by author ~

Research Sources:

Five Dollars and a Jug of Rum; The History of Grafton, Vermont 1754-2000. Revised and expanded ed. Copyright 1999 by the Grafton Historical Society, Walkimg Tour of Historic Grafton Brochure published by the Old Tavern of Grafton and the Grafton Historical Society, Grafton Vermont . . . find yourself. Brochure and The Grafton Historical Society.

Photography Credits:

Francis Palmer's General Store, John Duncan, the Old Tavern, the Congregationalist Brick Church and Chapel, Memorial Day Parade, William Turner, Alonzo Rice ~ the Grafton Historical Society. All other photographs ~ InHeritage.

Further Info:

Contact the Grafton Historical Society Museum at:
P.O. Box 202
Grafton, VT 05146
Telephone: 802.843.2584

You can also contact the Windham Foundation at:
P.O. Box 70
Telephone: 802.843.2211
www.windham-foundation.org

To arrange a visit to Grafton, contact the visitor Information Center at: 802.843.2255

Find Grafton on-line at www.graftonvermont.org