Bennington Museum

10/21/2026

This stereoscopic glass plate negative was probably taken shortly after the completion of the Bennington Graded School, built in 1874.

In 1870 Bennington started to consider uniting the five school districts of the village into one Graded School. The building contract went to L.M. Holton for a three story brick, iron trimmed building to be constructed for $25,000. The cornerstone was laid June 1, 1874 on a three acre lot on School Street (then called Pottery Street).

The plans for "the finest public school building in the State" included running water in every classroom, gas lighting, and a ventilation system throughout. The building opened its doors on January 1, 1875 to students from primary through high school.

The Renaissance style building and grounds was a point of great pride for Bennington. Ornamental trees were set out to provide shade to the spacious playgrounds. Major Alonzo Valentine, a wealthy mill owner, donated a large cast iron fountain which was moved to South Street after the building was razed in 1954 to build the current Bennington Elementary School.

Weichert-Isselhardt Collection, Gift of Tordis llg Isselhardt and Museum Purchase
https://bennington.pastperfectonline.com/photo/7027EC03-87B0-4753-A7ED-432438385805

10/20/2026

Take an Art Break and write a Six-Word Memoir. Spend at least one full minute looking deeply at this portrait. Then, in SIX WORDS (no more, no less) write the subject's memoir in the comments.

10/19/2026

The original thirteen states issued paper currency to meet the costs generated by the Revolutionary War. In 1781, Vermont, an independent republic, produced its own comparatively small issue of paper currency. The bills were redeemable for silver until 1782, after which they were receivable for taxes.

The warning “Death To Counterfeit,” printed on the back of the notes, was not effective. Accusations were even lodged against the printers, and a boy employed at the shop was found to be guilty of purloining bills for an associate who forged the signatures. Counterfeiting was such a problem that punishments in the 1770s and 1780s ranged from flogging, a large “C” branded on the forehead, and clipping of the ear, to the death penalty.

Gift of Eunice Wead
https://bennington.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/4142C9C3-9903-4802-B16F-830011412675

10/18/2026

The foliage is peak in Bennington and it's a good time for a walk at the Bennington Museum!

10/17/2026

Last week we invited you to write a 6-Word memoir for this portrait, and now let's see who he is.

The note attached to this miniature painting reads, "I suppose this was thought to be like me when it was taken in 1834 E A Hitchcock". Ethan Allen Hitchcock (1788-1870) was born in Vergennes, and was the grandson of the Vermont patriot Ethan Allen. According to Allen’s daughter, her son was a spitting image of his famous grandfather. Hitchcock was a career army officer. He graduated from West Point in 1817 and served in the Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the Civil War. After he retired from the army, he took to the study of literature and philosophy, collecting an extensive private library with a focus on alchemy and flute music.

There are a couple daguerreotype photographs of him as an older man in our collection too: https://bennington.pastperfectonline.com/byperson?keyword=Hitchcock%2C%20Ethan%20Allen

Gift of Miss Anna de Camp Camacho

10/16/2026

The old Federal Building on South Street is a prime example of the Neo-Classical Revival, distinguished by its symmetry, monumental appearance, columned facade, decorated entablature, and white marble construction. It was constructed as a United States Post Office and designed by James Knox Taylor, supervising architect for the United States Treasury from 1897-1912. It served as Bennington’s post office until 1967, when a new post office was constructed around the corner on Elm Street. From 1967 to 1996, it served as a United States Federal Building, and then was conveyed to the Town of Bennington. From 1999 on, it has served as the Bennington police station. These photos are from a set of twenty official U.S. government photos (now in Bennington Museum collection) used to verify and document the progress of the construction and were taken near the end of the project on November 1, 1914.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse N. Mallory

10/15/2026

FREE! Winter’s Time
October 18 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
a Bennington Historical Society presentation

In November 1926, Cecelia Gullivan, treasurer of the Cone Automatic Machine company of Windsor, Vermont, was brutally killed in her home. Local police quickly arrested Cone Automatic machinist John Winters on suspicion of the crime, and the trial that followed was sensational and swift. The author of Winters’ Time: A Secret Pledge, a Severed Head, and the Murder that Brought America’s Most Famous Lawyer to Vermont, shares the story.

a Bennington Historical Society presentation In November 1926, Cecelia Gullivan, treasurer of the Cone Automatic Machine company of Windsor, Vermont, was brutally killed in her home. Local police quickly arrested Cone Automatic machinist John Winters on suspicion of the crime, and the trial that

10/14/2026

Wallace Weir Fahnestock painted "Vermont Idyll" around 1938 for the Federal Art Program, a government entity that funded artists throughout the United States during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Fahnestock’s paintings often include stereotypical Vermont imagery- such as the cows, tidy rural farm yard, and trees ablaze with autumnal color. This was a common trope used by Vermont impressionists and artists working for the FAP, who often focused on regionally significant subject matter.

The FAP matched artists with local public institutions who would benefit from the work. Fahnestock was one of several artists whose work was placed in the custody of the Bennington Museum in the 1930s.

Courtesy of the Fine Arts Collection, U.S. General Services Administration WPA, Federal Art Project, 1935-1943
https://bennington.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/E32C9F6F-8E37-4EA2-9B10-436108992935

10/12/2026

For Indigenous Peoples' Day we're looking at the account for “Capt. Solomon Indien” in Stephen Fay’s ledger. Captain Solomon Uhhaunauwaunmut was chief sachem of the Stockbridge Mohicans, and a widely-respected community leader, diplomat, military captain, and orator. Fay was the owner of the Catamount Tavern in Bennington, where the Green Mountain Boys met.

The Stockbridge Indians were among the first to pledge themselves to the Patriot cause during the American Revolution. In early 1775 Solomon Uhhaunauwaunmut delivered a speech declaring that the Mohican would fight with the Americans and that they would also encourage the Mohawks and Haudenoshaunee to side with them as well. In return, he expected the new American government would help his people recover their just rights from white settler encroachment. Captain Solomon led a company of Mohican soldiers in the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. He died in February of 1777, but later that year Mohican men fought again on the side of the Patriots at Saratoga.

The Americans repeatedly broke their promises to their Native allies after the war. The Mohican were forced from their homes in Massachusetts. They now live in Wisconsin as the Stockbridge Munsee band of Mohican Indians. You can learn more about their rich history on their website: https://www.mohican.com/brief-history/

Captain Solomon's account at the Catamount Tavern is one of the few surviving historic references documenting relationships between Native people and white colonizers in Bennington. We do not know exactly what brought Captain Solomon to Fay's Tavern in 1771 and 1772, and Fay's accounts are not detailed. We do know that there were Mohican trading posts just over the border in New York State, and that in 1767 the Mohican had demanded payment for land recently settled in southern Vermont. Fay and other early Benningtonians were well aware that they lived on Native homeland.

Catamount Tavern Ledger, 1769-1785
Gift of Rev. & Mrs. Joseph Haswell Robinson
http://bennington.pastperfectonline.com/archive/5335C0BC-E7EE-4F59-B2FA-018554913983