Guildhall Village Historic District
About this property
The Guildhall Village Historic District encompasses the central common and surrounding buildings in the village center of Guildhall, Vermont. The town, the first to be settled in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, has a history from the late 18th century as a commercial, civic, and industrial center, and is the shire town of Essex County. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The area that is now Guildhall village was first settled in the 1780s, when a dam was built across the adjacent Connecticut River, and saw- and gristmills were erected. Eben Judd, proprietor of the mills in 1797, donated land for the common in that year to secure the town's role as the seat of the newly established Essex County. The town is named for the Guild Hall, part of which was built in 1792 and is the oldest commercial structure in the county. The first county courthouse was built in 1803, followed by other civic, commercial, religious and residential buildings that now line the roughly square common. Guildhall village is located in the northeastern corner of the town, on the western bank of the Connecticut River. The historic district is centered on the square common at the center of Guildhall village, former by a bend in Vermont Route 102, which runs west toward Lunenburg and north toward Maidstone. The common is bounded on the north and west by Courthouse Drive. The district includes all of the buildings facing the common, and extends for a short distance along VT 102 both north and west. It is bounded on the east and south by the river, and includes the remains of two industrial sites on the river bank: a former hydroelectric plant built in 1921 and destroyed by fire in 1963 at the western end of the Northumberland Dam, and the remains of the 1787 Ward Bailey Gristmill. Prominent buildings in the district include the 1851 Greek Revival county courthouse, the 1844 Congregational church, and the former jail, jailer's house, and barn, all built c. 1880. National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, Vermont
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Guildhall Village Historic District
This page lists Guildhall Village Historic District. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Guildhall Village Historic District listed on the National Register?
Guildhall Village Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 26, 1980.
What type of historic resource is Guildhall Village Historic District?
Guildhall Village Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Guildhall Village Historic District?
The period of significance for Guildhall Village Historic District is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near Guildhall Village Historic District?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Guildhall Village Historic District will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Essex County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Essex County.
Explore EssexCounty ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Guildhall Village Historic District will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.