Orleans County

Old Derby Academy Building // 1840

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Derby Literary and Theological Institute, a private boarding school, was opened in 1840 by the Danville Baptist Association on a one-acre plot of land donated by local landowners Lemuel Richmond and Benjamin Hinman. The academy housed 147 students of nearby towns for classes. Two years later, an atheneaum was established in the building as a local library for residents. The building would later become Derby’s public Jr. and Sr. High School as the town’s population at the time was just over 2,000 residents. The school was eventually outgrown and a modern school was built, located nextdoor. This building was gifted to the Derby Historical Society who maintain it to this day.

Cobb-Foster House // 1861

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Northeast Kingdom of Vermont is not necessarily known for stately houses, but no matter where you go in New England, you can always find interesting old buildings. This is the Cobb-Foster House of Derby Line, Vermont. The house was built in 1861 for Walter B. Cobb, a director of the People’s Bank of Derby Line. After later owners bought and sold the property in quick succession, the house was purchased by Stephen A. Foster, a lawyer and judge who would eventually move out of town, selling the property to Austin Theophilius Foster, a nephew. As architectural styles were later to arrive to rural parts of the country, this house expresses the Italianate style, but with holdover features from the Greek Revival style, which was already a decade out of style in 1861 around Boston and other well-connected areas.

Butterfield Mansion – Derby Line Village Inn // 1903

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Once described in a local history book as: “The largest, most glamorous home ever built in this [Derby Line] village”, the Butterfield Mansion is one of Northern Vermont’s best early 20th century houses. The house was built between 1901-1903 for Gen. Franklin G. Butterfield (1842-1916) who before this, received the country’s highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for his action at Salem Heights, Virginia on May 4, 1863 during the American Civil War. He would eventually move to Derby, Vermont, where he established the Butterfield Company, who specialized manufacturing axle cutters. Butterfield hired architects, James T. Ball and Gilbert H. Smith of Boston, who also designed the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in town that same year, to design his Colonial Revival mansion and intact carriage house. Today, the Butterfield Mansion is known as the Derby Line Village Inn.

Martha S. Haskell House // c.1870

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Martha Martin Stewart Haskell (1831-1906) was born in Derby, Vermont and was among the town’s most distinguished residents. Through her parents, Horace Stewart and Catherine Hinman, and her husband, businessman Carlos Haskell, who died in a tragic accident at the age of 41, Martha Haskell inherited a considerable fortune. She would build this stately Second Empire style mansion in the village after her husband’s untimely death and devoted much of her time to local affairs. Decades later, her idea to establish a public library and opera house for the benefit of the border communities came to fruition when she and her son funded and oversaw planning of the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which was built a stone’s throw from her home.