NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 7 Page 1 Montpelier Historic District Amendment name of property Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont Town, county and State Amendment This Amendment to the Montpelier Historic District updates the number, documentation, and description of properties presently included in the District and also provides new documentation for resources that were left out originally or that have been constructed since 1978. The original roughly 250-acre historic district, listed in 1978, included the commercial, governmental and institutional core of the downtown as well as surrounding residential neighborhoods. It primarily celebrated the 19th century architecture that predominates but included several early 20th century buildings and structures. Accessory buildings were usually included and non-contributing resources were numbered and briefly described. 528 resources were originally registered on November 3, 1978 and another 20 resources were added on April 19, 1989. The total listed resources after 1989 was 548 which included 477 contributing buildings, 7 contributing structures, 60 non-contributing buildings and 4 non-contributing structures. The amendment adjusts the resource count and documentation to reflect the extension of the period of significance to 1959, as well as demolition, alteration and new construction since 1978.1 Some accessory and other resources within the 1978 boundaries were not documented originally and these are now documented by the addition of an accessory number such as “211a” 1 The period of significance of the district has extended to 1959 which changes the contributing status of 27 properties (#s 1, 17, 18, 19, 50, 51, 80, 97, 104, 119, 126, 130, 169, 201, 215, 310, 346, 364a, 375, 387, 388, 409, 449, 464, 496, 504, & 521a) previously listed as non-contributing due to age. One property, #301, previously listed as non-contributing due to alterations has been restored and is now contributing. 3 buildings that were contributing (#s 236, 257, & 320) are now non-contributing due to alterations. In addition, 21 historic buildings (#s 57, 68, 75, 85, 106, 109, 135, 136, 143, 145, 212, 213, 214, 262, 263, 267, 320, 344, 452, 497, & 502) and 17 non-historic buildings (#s 52, 53, 56, 77, 78, 104, 144, 306, 316, 343, 345, 450, 453, 455, 462, 463 & 487) have been demolished. A total of 13 new non-contributing buildings have been constructed in the historic district and if they were on the site of an earlier resource were given that 1978 number. For example, #57 the Miss Montpelier Diner, had been listed as contributing but was demolished in 1982; a new information booth building was built on the site in 1990 and is now listed in this amendment as non-contributing property #57. There are 55 historic (#s 5a, 10a, 24a, 25a, 26a, 27a, 28a, 30a, 33a, 34a, 41a, 45a, 88a, 89a, 90a, 94a, 114a, 151a,159a, 160a, 165a, 168a, 170a, 204a, 245a, 258a, 269a, 270a, 275a, 283a, 299a, 300a, 329a, 330a, 350a, 351a, 362a, 370a, 375a, 381a, 383a, 387a, 388a, 389a, 399a, 401a, 405a, 406a, 429a, 432a, 441a, 442a, 445a, 446a, & 479a) and 30 non-historic (#s11a, 37a, 37b, 45b, 47a, 48a, 50a, 117a, 122a, 154a, 157a, 219a, 232a, 244a, 252a, 254a, 257a, 261a, 270b, 329b, 333a, 402a, 415a, 418a, 450a, 454a, 462a, 465a, 492a, & 563*) accessory buildings that were not documented or counted originally. In addition, there is one contributing structure (the railroad turntable, #106A, that had been within the contributing roundtable building (#106) in 1978 which has since been demolished and replaced with a non-contributing building (retaining the number “106”) near the original footprint but which avoided the structure. The remaining turntable is now documented separately as 106A. [*Property #563, a three-bay garage, was initially added as accessory building #371a. However, a final review of parcel data revealed that it was in fact un-related to property #371 but was instead a separate parcel (159 Main St.) under separate ownership. It has been re-numbered - #563, to reflect that.] NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 7 Page 2 Montpelier Historic District Amendment name of property Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont Town, county and State to denote an accessory or second building or structure on property #211. One site – the Elm Street cemetery – and one structure – the Winooski Dam at Main Street – were within the originally drawn boundaries but were omitted. They have been added with new numbers (515 & 516). The 14 properties added in 1989 were originally numbered separately 1-14. In this amendment they have been re-numbered (517 – 530) to be sequential to the main district. The boundaries in this amendment have only changed from the original in that they more accurately reflect the actual property lines of each included resource. During the re-mapping of the Montpelier Historic District for this amendment, the use of actual, irregular property lines revealed three “donut holes” within the district boundary. Within the two larger of these “holes” – the Monsignor Crosby Avenue and Franklin Street areas - were 35 additional resources of similar vintage, significance, and integrity to the properties of the surrounding district. These were documented and are being added in this 2009 amendment as #s 531 to 561. The third was the single resource of Hubbard Park Observation Tower (#562) which juts into the large state house parcel (#491). The amendment/update of all the properties is documented with a new cover sheet with an updated total resource count of 653 which includes 571 contributing resources (560 buildings, 2 sites, and 9 structures) and 82 non-contributing resources (77 buildings and 5 structures). The 1978 nomination contained 53 photographs that documented only about 15% of the properties in the district. The 1989 boundary increase included 22 photographs that documented every primary and accessory structure as well as some streetscapes and historic views and these have not been re-photographed. New photographs of every structure and accessory structure – both contributing and non-contributing – within the 1978 district boundaries are included with this amendment. The level of integrity in the district has remained the same or improved in some areas. As a distinct entity, the district retains integrity of location, design, setting, usually materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 7 Page 3 Montpelier Historic District Amendment name of property Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont Town, county and State Updated General Description of the 1978-1989 Existing District The 1978 nomination description stated: “The Montpelier Historic District is situated along the Winooski River, the North Branch, and the valleys which they form. The streets follow the bends of the rivers and at times go up the steep banks of the valley allowing buildings to be built at street focal points and on a variety of grades. … Architecturally, the city is very rich with both high style and vernacular buildings of the Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, and Queen Anne styles and a scattering of the Gothic, Dutch Colonial and Colonial Revival styles. The district is comprised of houses, commercial blocks, churches, a railroad station, and schools with no one style concentrated on any one building type. No neighborhood is built exclusively in one style, because the city has grown in spurts throughout its history and with each period, constructing buildings in the then current style.” The description above is still reflected by the present cityscape of the large, 250-acre district although to the list of styles may be added a few examples of the Art Deco (#198 – Capitol Theater), Moderne (#126 – 34 Barre Street) and International (#s 215, 346, 348, & 504) styles of the 20th century. Despite the city‟s steady growth over time and several major fires of the late 19th century, a large portion of the largely residential architecture pre-dates 1870 and reflects the Greek Revival and to a lesser extent the Federal styles. Some notable examples of the Federal style include the rare survival of the 1826 commercial block (#65) at the corner of State and Main Streets and residences from c. 1800 – c. 1825 such as the brick Reed House (#197), the Silas French House (#202), and the Judge Keith House (#238). The Greek Revival style with over fifty examples is the best represented of any other single style in the district and dominates the residential neighborhoods. The Greek Revival architecture of the district ranges from the very simple such as #s 361, 362, and 367 on St. Paul Street to higher style versions with monumental porticoes such as #89 on Barre Street and #282 on Elm Street. Although the Gothic Revival style is not as prevalent in the district, the majority of downtown churches, including the 1868 Christ Episcopal (#54) by J. J. R. Randall, the 1892 St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church (#128), the 1868 Bethany Congregational Church (#146) by Charles Edward Parker, and the 1868-73 First Baptist Church (#376) by A.M. Burnham were built in the High Gothic style and are good examples of NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 7 Page 4 Montpelier Historic District Amendment name of property Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont Town, county and State architect-designed interpretations of that genre. The 1868 Trinity Methodist Church (#148) by Edward Dow uses a more Romanesque/Italianate style.