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Brownington In 1869 the Orleans County Grammar School Blacksmith Shop 8 building was moved from this location to a The timber frame structure was erected in Village Historic site a third of a mile down the Hinman Settler 4 the summer of 2009 by children from the Road and was used for school purposes and as Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village’s Time a meeting hall for the Good Templars, eventu- Traveler’s Day Camp. This teaching blacksmith shop District ally becoming the Brownington Grange Hall. has a big brick forge as well as portable forges and ED IN T On August 8, 2016 it was moved back with the LIST HE anvils that can be set up outside. Classes range from help of 23 teams of oxen to the base of Pros- NATIONAL REGISTER pect Hill where it had been built in 1823. beginning skills through more advanced techniques. 10 At monthly open forge hammer-ins, students can of HISTORIC PLACES practice with guidance from an instructor. 7 Round Horse Pen In 2008, Orleans County students built a 11 6 5 cedar rail pen for horse training demonstra- tions and to accommodate animals brought in for 13 education programs. 5 Lawrence Barn This English-style barn, built during the frst 12 6 half of the 19th century, is similar to one origi- 4 nally associated with the Alexander Twilight House. 3 The barn was donated to the museum by the Ruth and Roland Lawrence family of Albany, Vermont and 1 was moved to its present site in 1997. The barn now houses agricultural equipment, carriages, sleighs, boats and sugaring and logging equipment. Samuel Read Hall House 2 and Heritage Apple Orchard Old Stone House this building as a museum interpreting the history of the On the corner of Old Stone House Road is a This four-story granite building, completed in 1836, region and its people. Today the building serves as the main Village illustration by C.R. Michaud 7 gold Federal-style house built in 1831. From 1 was constructed as a dormitory by African American interpretive space of the museum and historic village. It 1856 to 1877, it was the home of Samuel Read Hall Alexander Lucius Twilight, headmaster of the Orleans houses thousands of artifacts that tell the story of Mr. Twi- Alexander Twilight House, Archival Vault & Trailhead (1795-1877). Mr. Hall briefy served as principal and County Grammar School. Dubbed “Athenian Hall” by its light, the Orleans County Grammar School and the greater teacher in Orleans County Grammar School during Across the road from the Old Stone House is House serves as a visitor center for the museum and builder, the dormitory was more commonly called the Stone history of Orleans County and the surrounding region. the 1850’s and was a minister of the Brownington the Alexander Twilight House (circa 1830). It was as the organization’s main ofce. It has a handicap Boarding House, the Stone House and eventually the Old 3 Congregational Church. In 1823 Mr. Hall founded built only a short time afer Alexander Lucius Twilight accessible restroom. In 2010, on the footprint of the Stone House. For almost a quarter of a century it housed Old Stone House Barn one of the frst teacher training schools in the United and his wife arrived in Brownington. The size of the original ell, an archival vault, workroom and ramp young scholars. The 25' x 40' timber frame barn was erected in the States at Concord, VT, and promoted the use of the house enabled the Twilights to board Orleans County entrance were constructed. summer of 2012 on the footprint of the original barn blackboard for instructional purposes. In 1859, only two years afer Mr. Twilight’s death, the 2 Grammar School students. They continued to board that was constructed just afer the Old Stone House was In the summer of 2020, the Twilight Educational Trail dormitory closed. Mr. Twilight’s widow, Mercy Ladd Merrill students in the home even afer the Old Stone House In 2005, the Old Stone House Museum & Historic built in 1836. North Country Career Center students helped was developed. It’s trailhead is found in the parking Twilight, ran a small boarding house and tavern in the Old was constructed. Village purchased the Hall House from the Herrick cut and mill the lumber and built the deck. Elementary lot of the Alexander Twilight House. The trail honors Stone House for several years before selling the building family. It is used for the museum’s expanding educa- students whittled the pegs which anchor the mortise and The Alexander Twilight House later became the prop- the varied curricula taught by Mr. Twilight, especially and moving to Derby. tional programs, as an AirBnB and for private events. tenon joints. The Timber Framers Guild cut and raised the erty of Stanley Marsh, frst caretaker of the museum, his lessons on the natural world. It is roughly one mile Book your next stay at the Old Stone House Museum The Old Stone House remained in private hands until 1918 frame. The barn now holds an exhibit on the history of and then of his successor, Ezekiel Perry. Purchased by long with numerous educational signs along the way. It & Historic Village in this historic house. before being purchased by the Old Stone House Museum & farming in Orleans County. The original barn was removed the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village in leads up to the Prospect Hill Observatory and includes Historic Village for $500. In 1925, the organization opened in 1924 before the Old Stone House opened as a museum. 1999 from Leon and Mary Perry, the Alexander Twilight a shorter family circle. continued ! BROWNINGTON, VERMONT

Views of the surrounding countryside include MUSEUM HOURS Orleans County arly in the 19th century, Brownington VISITING Willoughby Gap to the Southeast, Lake Memphrema- 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM Grammar School was a thriving community and a center gog to the North and Jay Peak to the West. On clear Open Wednesday through Sunday for political, economic and educational At the base of Prospect Hill sits the Orleans days, you can see Mt. Mansfeld to the Southwest and Mid-May – Mid-October life in Orleans County. It was located on the stage route 8 County Grammar School. Built in 1823, it was the White Mountains to the East. E Closed Mondays and Tuesdays paid for by William Baxter, a prominent town resi- from Boston to Montreal on what is now called the Hin- The Museum Shop is open during regular museum hours and fea- man Settler Road, the frst road built through Orleans dent and lawyer. He stipulated that worship services Brownington Congregational tures light refreshments, historical publications, traditional crafts County. be held on the second foor of the school until a Church & Village Cemetery and old-time toys. permanent church could be built. The Brownington Village Historic District includes the The church building was completed in 1841. Visit OldStoneHouseMuseum.org for information or to register six buildings of the Old Stone House complex and three When erected in 1823 the building was on the base In 1899, William Barstow Strong paid for for adult and children's educational programs and public events. 10 neighboring structures, all dating from the frst half of of Prospect Hill and had a belfry on the front. In extensive remodeling for the church interior and for a 1869 the belfry was removed and the schoolhouse the 19th century. Hinman large bell and spire for the belfry. Settler Rd Old Stone was moved 1/3 mile down the road to the middle of FIND US... House Rd The gravestones of African American Alexander Lucius Brownington Village by the Good Templars, a tem- 91 Old Twilight and Mercy Ladd Merrill Twilight are at the Quebec/Canada Stone perance society. Their second foor hall soon became 5 House 10 Tarbox front of the church cemetery, facing toward the Old Montreal Hill Rd Brownington the Grange Hall, which it still is today. The down- 35 55 Stone House. stairs remained a school until 1912, when the trustees Newport exit 26 89 of the Orleans County Grammar School transferred 58 58 Orleans ownership of the building to the town. Cyrus Eaton House Burlington 2 StJ Built in 1834 by Cyrus Eaton, a businessman Montpelier Maine 5 In 2015, the Town of Brownington gave the building 91 93 who emigrated from Canada, this is a late 302 to the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village. 11 Portland Federal-style house partially remodeled in the vernacu- 89 On August 8, 2016, the building was moved back Concord lar Greek Revival Style. Mr. Eaton was a trustee of the up the road to its original site with the help of 23 Orleans County Grammar School and helped African Vermont NH teams of oxen, mostly led by 4-H youth teamsters. 93 American Alexander Lucius Twilight build the Old It was placed on a full foundation and running water Alexander Lucius Twilight York New 91 Stone House. Two of Mr. Eaton’s sons and one daughter Boston and central heat were introduced. The building was Mass Springfeld were among Mr. Twilight’s students. In 1971, the Old & Samuel Read Hall 95 brought up to current safety and accessibility stan- RI Stone House Museum & Historic Village acquired the Brownington was home to two fgures Hartford dards and is again available for community events as Conn Cyrus Eaton House from Alan Lafoe. The building now of national historic signifcance: African well as museum educational programs and exhibits. houses a research library and changing exhibits. Behind American Alexander Lucius Twilight From Interstate 91, take Exit 26 East. Then take Route 58 East and Prospect Hill & Observatory the house is a mid-19th century perennial garden, cre- (1795-1857), the frst person of black continue through the Village of Orleans. Follow the signs for our — ated and maintained by the Four Seasons Garden Club. ancestry to graduate from an American Historic Village at Tarbox Hill Road on the left as you drive on Route From 1823 until 1869, the classroom building college (Middlebury, 1823), or to serve 58. Tarbox Hill Road changes to Frog Pond Road as you change town- 9 of the Orleans County Grammar School stood Original Twilight Homestead in a state legislature (Vermont House ships of Orleans to Brownington. Follow Frog Pond Road to Hinman at the foot of Prospect Hill on what was then the ALEXANDER Originally a small house on the site of the LUCIUS TWILIGHT of Representatives, 1836); and, Samuel Settler Road. Our historic village begins at the junction of Hinman town common. It also served as the Brownington Settler Road and Old Stone House Road. Alexander Twilight House it became part of Read Hall (1795-1877), a pioneer in the Congregational Church until 1841. Students would 12 the new Twilight House in 1830 and connected to a feld of education who introduced the ADMISSION ofen climb the hill for evening vespers. use of the blackboard to the American small barn. The original Twilight Homestead was given Visit our website for current admissions prices. classroom (Rumford, Maine, 1816), In 1898, William Barstow Strong, a Brownington to the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village Group rates are available with advance reservations. founded one of the frst teacher-training native, a graduate of the Orleans County Grammar by the Perry family in 1978 and moved into the feld Members are admitted to the museum free of charge. School and the President of the Atchinson, Topeka beside the Old Stone House where it serves a variety of or “normal” schools (Concord, Vermont, To inquire about membership or to schedule a group tour, 1823) and published the frst teacher- and Santa Fe Railroad, had an observatory tower purposes including for educational programming and please call the museum ofce at (802) 754-2022. Design: Flek, Inc., 2021. Northern Corporation. Investment through Community awarded grant Assistance Technical Small Business Recovery Development and Community of Commerce Agency a Vermont made possible through of this brochure Partial development for funding built at the top of the hill. The tower was recreated art gallery space. training textbook in America (Andover, SAMUEL For more information, visit the museum’s by the Grange in 1975 in preparation for the national READ HALL Massachusetts, 1829). web site OldStoneHouseMuseum.org bicentennial and was rebuilt again in 1998. Visitors Rice & Going Hotel Both men were connected with the Orleans County Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village can walk or drive up Prospect Hill to the observatory. Built in 1815, this farmhouse once operated Grammar School that was established in Brownington in 109 Old Stone House Road as the Rice and Going Hotel. The house is 1823 and was, for years, the only secondary school in the 13 ! " # $ Brownington, Vermont 05860 continued ! privately owned today. county. [email protected] OldStoneHouseMuseum.org