Built during the last half of the nineteenth-century in Montpelier stand two cottage buildings referred to as Athenwood and the Thomas W. Wood studio. The buildings are also associated with Montpelier native Thomas Waterman Wood, one of the most popular painters of the nineteenth century. Wood designed the buildings himself, starting with Athenwood in 1850 followed by his art studio during the 1880s. Wood built Athenwood (1850) with the intention to use it as a summer home, which demonstrates Montpelier's role as a summer resort during the mid-nineteenth-century. With a Rural Gothic design, the building's name comes from the Greek mythological figure, Athena. Wood chose the name as a tribute to his wife Minerva, whose name comes from the Greek goddess of wisdom. The house decor included numerous, small marble statues of Athena's head. In addition to functioning as a summer retreat, Athenwood served as Wood's artist studio until he built the second, separate cottage in the 1880s. Several of Montpelier's citizens worked as the subjects and models for Wood's paintings. Wood also served as President of the American Water Color Society and the National Academy and proved to be a significant benefactor of Montpelier. Thus, Wood and his art studio evolved into a substantial part of the Montpelier culture and now exist as a notable aspect of the city's history.

2008 Photo Athenwood & Thomas W. Wood Studio

1974  Photo of Athenwood & Thomas W. Wood Studio via the National Parks Service

Nomination Form to the National Register of Historic Places

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1974 Photo and info of the Thomas W. Wood Studio via the National Parks Service

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Travel Piece focused on the Athenwood & Thomas W. Wood Studio cottages via National Parks Service

Thomas W. Wood, a Montpelier resident and well-known painter during the nineteenth century, built the pair of houses in the last half of the nineteenth century. The first structure, built in 1850, served as his summer home and studio until the 1880s when he built the second cottage exclusively to use as a studio. Wood often used local residents as subjects for his work, and he was active in the community. Thus, both Wood and his house were highly significant to the town. 

Athenwood and Thomas W. Wood Studio

Explore the history of Montpelier and Vermont with this short walk or drive that starts at the Vermont State House. The tour includes historic buildings, museums, cultural sites, and even a former factory that was home to the last manufacturer of wooden clothespins in the United States. 

The present State House, A Greek Revival structure designed by Ami Young, was dedicated in 1859 and proved to be larger than the first two structures erected in 1808 and 1833; a fire destroyed the second building in 1857. Besides housing the Vermont Legislature -- the Senate, and the House of Representatives, the State House serves as the offices for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Legislative Council.  Vermont entered the Union in 1791, and its legislature met in different locations each year to conduct state business. In fact, the state government met forty-seven times during a span of thirty-five years without the benefit of an official state capital. Finally, in 1805, the legislature selected Montpelier as the permanent location for which to conduct all legislature sessions upon the condition that the city would provide land for a permanent State House building; the first State House -- a wooden structure -- opened in 1808. The state government required a new State House by the 1830s because outgrew the first building. So, in 1833, the legislature moved into a brick and granite structure, although completion of the building did not commence until 1838. The new State House accommodated state offices, committee rooms, legislative chambers, the office of the Governor, and the official state library. A fire destroyed the building on January 1857. Fortunately, a large percentage of the furniture, most of the library books, a portrait of George Washington, and most of the Secretary of State's documents were saved. Nonetheless, the fire forced the government to again build a new State House, and that is the one that stands today. The State House opened in 1859 and with its ornate dome and abundant decor, including plenty of ornamental woodwork, cast-iron columns, and marble flooring, proved to be the grandest of the three built during the 1808 - 1859 period. Though the building showed extensive aging by the 1970s, the State House benefitted from a desire to save the building rather than replace it. Planning for a comprehensive renovation project began in 1981, which set off a nearly twenty-year restoration effort that finally ended in 2000. When the State House opened its doors in 1859, only 32 states made up the Union, and the nation had not yet endured the Civil War. While the United States grew substantially in the 160 years since the building of the State House, Montpelier remains the country's smallest capital city. Thus, despite the innumerable changes that have occurred since 1859, the structure and the city's size have remained the same.

Completed in 1859, this is the and current state capitol building constructed in Montpelier since the city was selected as Vermont's capital in 1805. Inspired by the federal capitol building in Washington D.C., the ornate Greek Revival building benefited from a nearly twenty-year-long restoration project, mostly taking place during the 1990s. 

Vermont State House

The Vermont History Museum offers a state history museum and bookstore. The museum is located on the first floor of the old Pavilion Building--right across from the Vermont State House. It is managed by the Vermont Historical Society, whose offices are located in Barre. The museum contains 20,000 items including fine art, tools, clothing, artifacts, and household goods. The museum puts on changing exhibits throughout the year that highlight the state's rich history.

Vermont History Museum

Built during the last half of the nineteenth-century in Montpelier stand two cottage buildings referred to as Athenwood and the Thomas W. Wood studio. The buildings are also associated with Montpelier native Thomas Waterman Wood, one of the most popular painters of the nineteenth century. Wood designed the buildings himself, starting with Athenwood in 1850 followed by his art studio during the 1880s.  Wood built Athenwood (1850) with the intention to use it as a summer home, which demonstrates Montpelier's role as a summer resort during the mid-nineteenth-century. With a Rural Gothic design, the building's name comes from the Greek mythological figure, Athena. Wood chose the name as a tribute to his wife Minerva, whose name comes from the Greek goddess of wisdom. The house decor included numerous, small marble statues of Athena's head. In addition to functioning as a summer retreat, Athenwood served as Wood's artist studio until he built the second, separate cottage in the 1880s.  Several of Montpelier's citizens worked as the subjects and models for Wood's paintings. Wood also served as President of the American Water Color Society and the National Academy and proved to be a significant benefactor of Montpelier. Thus, Wood and his art studio evolved into a substantial part of the Montpelier culture and now exist as a notable aspect of the city's history.

College Hall (1872) is exemplary of the French Second Empire architectural style. Located on the top of Seminary Hill, which overlooks the city, College Hall stands as one of the Montpelier's most significant and recognizable landmarks. The building continues to serve as the home to higher education, which has been true since it opened in 1872.  College Hall first housed the Vermont Methodist Conference when the building opened in 1872. The Methodist conference moved into the building a few years after the New Hampshire Methodist Conference changed the Conference boundaries resulting in a separate Vermont Methodist Conference. Hence, the building sits on Seminary Hill, which reflects the College Hall's original tenants.  The Seminary chose the location partly due to its proximity to the railroad and capitol, but also because of some pre-existing features leftover from the Civil War. Sloan United States Military Hospital, which served the ill and wounded during the Civil War, closed in 1865. However, a race track and fairgrounds remained. The Methodist Conference used the building until 1936. In 1936, the newly organized Vermont Junior College shared the space with the Methodist Conference, but the Seminary folded in 1947. Nine years later, in 1958, the Vermont Junior College transitioned into a four-year college: Vermont College, which later merged with Norwich University in 1972. Norwich developed a fine arts program in the building and then sold it to what is now the Vermont School of Fine Arts (est. 2008). Today, College Hall remains the central building within Vermont College of Fine Arts campus.

Built in 1868, College Hall stands as one of Montpelier's most recognizable landmarks, partly due to its location atop Seminary Hill, which overlooks the city. The building, built on land that once included hospitals that served Civil War Soldiers, first operated as a seminary for the Vermont Methodist Conference. College Hall has been used to house educational institutions ever since it opened. In 1936, the Vermont Junior College (later reorganized as Vermont College in 1958) took over the space, and then later merged with Norwich University in 1972. Today, the building is home to the Vermont College of Fine Arts (established in 2008). 



College Hall in Montpelier, Vermont

The wood-framed National Clothespin Factory (1918) stands as a monument to the factory life that played a significant role in shaping the history of Vermont (and great New England) history and shaping of Vermont and New England. Small, family businesses dominated the United States clothespin industry, many of which operated in New England. However, the advancement of automatic, heated dryers and foreign competition led to the decline of the industry; the Montpelier factory served as the last one of its kind in the country. Montpelier, the capital city of Vermont, gained its charter on October 21, 1780, with an initial size of 23,040 acres. Mills quickly grew popular in the city and region (grist-mills, saw-mills, wool-mills), many taking advantage of the abundance of timber (certainly, for making clothespins) and the local rivers, which helped power to the factories until steam power arrived in the last decades of the nineteenth century. The nearby residential area speaks to the early culture of mill life as factories needed plenty of workers, and most all of them lived close to the mills. The advancement of railway lines into Vermont helped mills improve their viability, both becuase they could efficiently ship goods and also receive supplies. And, despite improvements in technology, as well as the arrival of electricity, automobiles, and airplanes, several mills and factories in New England survived well into the twentieth century. The National Clothespin Factory survived from the 1880s through the first decade of the 2000s, including the historic building from 1918 - 2003. However, the industry as a whole significantly declined after World War II because of the invention of the electric dryer. Moreover, during the 1960s, imported clothespins from Asia and Europe (often less expensive) only served to accelerate the decline. Indeed, clothespin industry representatives attempted unsuccessfully to convince Congress to halt the import of clothespins. As a result, the fifteen clothespin factories operating in New England during the 1930s fell to only five by the 1980s. And, in 2003, The National Clothespin Company of Montpelier, Vermont shut its doors as the last American wooden clothespin manufacturer. The factory's wooden frame also speaks to the connection between mill life in New England and the region's wealth of available lumber. The thick forests made mill creation an easy investment for early entrepreneurs, as wood could be used for heating (including in the homes of workers needed to keep the factory operating), build homes, factories and of course produce goods. The National Clothespin Company, for instance, used an astounding 500,000 board-feet of lumber per year to make clothespins. As a result, much of the region's forests suffered significant declines, notably during the nineteenth century. Thus, the building also represents the choices society made regarding its resources; first relying heavily on water and wood and now relying more on electricity, hence the rise and fall of the clothespin industry.

Built in 1918, The National Clothespin Factory in Montpelier proved to be the nation's last wooden clothespin manufacturer. The history of the National Clothespin Company dates back to 1887 and it stayed in business until 2003. However, powered clothes dryers, plastics and foreign competition all led to the demise of the entire industry, with the Montpelier operation the last to close down. It stands as a reminder to the prolific factory-based industries that made up Vermont and New England, as well as to the prominence of available lumber and water power in New England the helped make mills a popular investment for more than a century.

Montpelier History Trail

Athenwood and Thomas W. Wood Studio

Introduction

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Backstory and Context

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Additional Information