BRATTLEBORO — “It's a shame the house had to come down,” says Andy Shapiro, local landlord and new owner of the property at 42 Canal St. “The previous owner was trying to renovate the house, but she didn't have a game plan and by the time I bought it, it would have been much more expensive to fix it than to remove it.”
Shapiro is referring to previous owner Rebecca Sue Raspet, who purchased the house only about one year ago and started massive renovations to the interior of the building.
The house in question sat on the corner of Clark and Canal streets since approximately 1830, when James Estabrook built the 1½-story, wood-framed, federal duplex classic cottage. The building had changed and had been updated inside and out by its dozen or so owners over its 180-year life, and the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Barbara Faridoni, owner of the Sportsman's Lounge across the street, said, “I've been here looking at that building for over 40 years. I was astounded it could be taken down since it is on the registry. I watched ReNew take out those beams, and they had a hard time getting them out of there.”
Shapiro had ReNew Salvage come and take anything that could be reused from the building.
“I had them take the old post and beam structure, the windows, and the doors. The previous owner had renovated the long one-story garage constructed about 1925, and that will remain.” Shapiro said.
Typically found in densely populated areas, multi-car or community garages provided rental income for the owner. They also assisted crowded neighborhoods with parking in an area that had little yard or driveway space. Another example of this type of garage can be seen on lower Linden Street just after the turnoff to Cedar Street.
Barbara George, a local preservationist, serves on the Vermont Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and as the vice-president of the Brattleboro Historical Society.
“There is a general misconception that when a property is on the National Register of Historic Places, the owner has limitations about what can happen with it,” says George.
“The national and state registers are simply lists of qualifying properties with their accompanying history. It's honorific, and it's such a boon to historians. That's the point. After a building or district is registered, others can learn about its history,” she said.
In fact, the entire Clark Street-Canal Street Neighborhood has been declared a historic district.
The documentation was done in 1992, by grant interns Susannah Wise, Tala Henry-Halabi and Bob Riley, the assistant town planner and the grants manager at the time. Credit also goes to the town of Brattleboro, and the grant program that funded the work.
“It's a fascinating little two blocks,” said George, and it's easier to do an entire neighborhood at one time, as was the case in this area of town.
Information on buildings and neighborhoods that have been designated historic can be viewed at the Brattleboro Historical Society at the Municipal Center. Town offices also have copies of the documentation. Those who have questions about the National Register process can learn a lot at www.historicvermont.org.
Rich history
The National Register documentation calls the Canal Street-Clark Street Neighborhood Historic District “a well-preserved example of a 19th-century predominantly working-class residential neighborhood. Buildings are modest in type and scale and exhibit simple architectural styles which reflect the practical and unpretentious character of their owners.”
The narrative says the “sense of physical community is established by the neighborhood's compactness and density” and calls the site's origins and development “a unique local and regional representation of the social evolution of a nineteenth-century working class community.”
The neighborhood is defined as approximately 13.2 acres, bordered by South Main Street to the southwest, Canal Street, Clark Street and Clark Street/Lawrence Street to the east, north, west and south, respectively. Within that small area, 62 primary historic and ten secondary historic structures were built between 1830 and 1935.
Two of the buildings are commercial, including the Sportsman's Lounge, built circa 1850, and the current Three Stones Restaurant, formerly Ed's Diner, built circa 1935.
Seven of the homes still have their carriage barns intact, and one of the 60 buildings is constructed of cobblestones, only one of two documented buildings of this type in the state of Vermont.
Brattleboro was chartered in 1753 to William Brattle and Associates of Boston. Early settlement came first in both the West and East Villages, about two miles apart. In the 1760s, John Arms and Colonel Samuel Wells built grist and saw mills, both adjacent to the Whetstone Brook at the foot of Main Street. Houses sprang up rapidly and the population doubled.
By 1811, Joseph Clark had built the first paper mill, and Ashbel Dickinson started the manufacture of stove and tin products. By 1824, this area of town was twice the size of West Brattleboro. By 1850, the population of both areas of town had risen to 3,816.
Canal Street became a stage road, creating natural growth in the Clark/Canal area. By 1812, a hotel and tavern operated by Clark and his son Rufus was operating along the foot of Main Street, and by 1845, at least 12 homes and the Methodist Church on Canal Street in this district had been built.
Clark Street, named after Joseph Clark, was laid out between circa 1845 and 1852.
By this time, the house on the corner was already sitting along the stagecoach road that would be known as Canal Street. The majority of persons living in this area of town were business proprietors and tradesmen. Among them were a coppersmith, doctor, butcher, cooper, shoemaker, mechanic, machinist, carpenter, mason, saddle and harness maker, carriage maker, tin ware and stove dealer and rule maker.
“This information, easily available to anyone who wants to learn about it, is exactly why we work to designate historic buildings, districts and neighborhoods,” reminded Barbara George. “There are no restrictions on what owners can do to these listed buildings unless they accept federal or state funding. Otherwise, they can do what they want, although the town does have its own regulations on demolition.”
A historic commercial property gains more than honorific benefits from being listed on the National Register. George says there are tax credits available if a building is used for income producing purposes, like a rental or a business use. If the rehabilitation is done correctly, a 20-percent tax credit is possible, but the key here is the term “done correctly,” says George.
Preserving history
Stewart and Kristen McDermit are preservationists, working at 80 Canal St., a home included in the historic district.
“We're so excited to be preserving this home,” says Stewart McDermit. “It's a beautiful place with a barn on the property. The original dug well is still there, laid up with stone. The cupola is still on the barn, and there is a three-hole outhouse in there as well, with a small, large and medium sized hole,” he said with a chuckle.
“Believe it or not, there is still hay in the barn,” he says. “It looks like the horses just left.”
McDermit “can't stress enough the value of preserving buildings,” he adds. “It's a win-win for all concerned, fixing old buildings, reusing their nails, screws, and pieces of glass means something for our community.”
These buildings are investments for their owners, but they also serve our community financially, physiologically, and historically, McDermit says.
The house at 80 Canal isn't the first home the McDermits have preserved.
“We did a similar home over on Spring Street. It's a sincere pleasure to bring a home back to its original beauty using its own materials whenever possible,” McDermit says.
Back at 42 Canal, Andy Shapiro hasn't fully decided what will go in the building's place. He promises he will improve the lot.
“I'm not entirely sure what will come next. I might put up a couple of handicapped accessible units, or provide parking for some of my other tenants. I've already rented out all the units on the garage,” he says.