Brattleboro Historical Society

06/18/2026

Brattleboro Vermont then and now.
In 1939 the former Valley Fairgrounds (1886-1931), were transformed into a sports complex for the Brattleboro Union High School.

06/18/2026

It’s the weekend of the former Alumni parade. Here’s a 3 1/2 minute clip from the 1931 Alumni Parade. Notice at the front of the clip - the lone member of the Brattleboro High School class of 1863. Yes, 1863! The year of the battle of Gettysburg, the siege of Vicksburg, and the Gettysburg address. Incredible.


Rare video footage of the Brattleboro High School Alumni Parade fro...

06/17/2026

Brattleboro Vermont then and now.
Calvary at the Valley Fair.
The Valley Fair was a prominent local agricultural and industrial fair held annually in Brattleboro, Vermont, from 1886 to 1931.

06/16/2026

Brattleboro Vermont then and now.
Horse racing at the Valley Fair 1906.
The Fair Grounds were located where Brattleboro Union High School is now.

06/14/2026

We are soliciting your remembrances of the 4th of July in Brattleboro at the Bicentennial - July 4, 1976 - 50 years ago. You can share them in the comments & we may attempt to patch them together in an article to help celebrate the 250th.
This writer was in Philadelphia for the country's celebration of the Bicentennial on July 4, 1976. If you will look closely you will see the Queen of England arriving , President Gerald R. Ford at the podium at Independence Hall, a group of protesters demanding the Liberty Bell be sent back to England, and the downtown Philadelphia Bicentennial parade - note the '76' banner.

06/14/2026

Alumni Parades are fondly remembered..."Another Time, Another Place" at the Paramount, 1958

06/13/2026

Hosea Beckley wrote a Vermont geography/topography/history book in the 1840's. The book has wonderful descriptions of our region and gives examples of how geography impacted early settlement in Windham County. This image was taken from Prospect Hill Cemetery in the early 1900's and looks north up the Connecticut River Valley with Mount Wantastiquet looming to the east. In the 1840's the mountain was known by many names...West Mountain, Chesterfield Mountain, Rattlesnake Mountain or Mount Wantastiquet. It was in the 1850's that the local paper, Vermont Phoenix, promoted the Abenaki-derived name "Mount Wantastiquet", for the land form and it began to be used more frequently in written descriptions of the area.
In Beckley's book the land form is referred to as "West Mountain" and Prospect Hill Cemetery is known as the "East Village Burying Ground"...click the link below to hear more about Beckley's descriptions of the region and how you can read his book (free of charge) on the internet...

https://soundcloud.com/bratthistoricalsoc/bhs-e570-hosea-beckley-and

06/11/2026

Brattleboro Vermont then and now.
The Crosby Mill Bridge Street.
Finding the business expanding and needing more grain storage space, the company purchased the Vernon Road land in 1910. They opened the new, larger operation and began flour production in 1913.
In 1921, the Crosby Milling Company took over E. Crosby & Co. and operated under the brand name Wirthmore Feeds. In 1968, Agway Company acquired the mill and eventually discontinued milling operations at the Vernon Street site.

06/10/2026

Brattleboro Vermont then and now.
The Crosby Mill on Bridge Street.
The Crosby business built a large storage elevator near the train depot in 1887. It could hold 4,000 barrels of flour and the building also contained three other businesses that benefited from the location near the railroad.
At its peak, the Crosby Milling Company was the largest distributor of flour in the Northeast.
The mill was sold to Agway in 1968, which eventually ceased milling operations at the Vernon Street site.