The Danby Village Historic District, set in a narrow valley amidst the Green and Taconic Mountains, is a cohesive well-maintained collection of nineteenth and early twentieth-century buildings. Of eighty-three structures, only nine do not contribute to Danby’s historic character. The district is primarily residential, but a number of commercial, public, and ecclesiastical buildings along Main Street connote the more diverse and self-sufficient nature of the village. Buildings in the district are primarily wood-frame, and stand one and a half and two and a half stories high with gable roofs. They are closely spaced and benefit from shade trees. A majority are from the 1850s and ‘60s and display Greek Revival traits. There are also a few examples of late nineteenth-century designs and several early twentieth-century residences. A high percentage of original outbuildings remain behind the district’s primary structures.
The Danby Village Historic District is nestled in a narrow section of what is commonly referred to as the Vermont Valley. The Western slope of the Green Mountain chain forms a wall-like backdrop to the east and the varied peaks of the Taconic Range, most notably Dorset Peak to the southeast, provide a varied and picturesque vista to the west of the district.
The north-south running valley is an important transportation/communication corridor for the western half of Vermont. It ties Southern New England with Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence to the North. The Otter Creek and its tributaries follow the Valley for much of its length. Indian routes, main roads (U. S. Route 7) and the railroad have, and continue, to follow its course. Danby’s position along the corridor has been an important factor in its development. Although not initially significant when first settlers preferred upland routes and habitats, with the coming of the railroad, Danby’s valley location was crucial in the development of its marble industry. Today, Danby village lies a few hundred yards west of “the beaten path”, a U. S. Route 7 bypass constructed parallel and to the west of Main Street. This location although seemingly detrimental, has helped to preserve the nineteenth-century character of the village, and is yet close enough to the highway to provide easy access for tourists and travelers.
Main Street, which runs north/south, is the backbone of the district. Running perpendicular to Main Street, several village cross streets are also included in the district. Burrough Hill Road runs a short distance west; Mt. Tabor Avenue and Depot Street, a short distance east. The district’s topography is relatively flat. Burrough Hill Road rises gently as it leaves the district, and a small hill, topped by the Congregational Church (no. 3) and the Victorian Melody Inn (nos. 79, 80, and 81), marks the southern extremity of the district. The buildings are uniformly spaced and sit back a few feet from the street with the early twentieth century residences, at the north end of the district, generally set back a bit further. The high density of structures, and the prolific shade trees and plantings, cause diverse and pleasing streetscapes from any district vantage point. Of the 83 components of the district, 38 are residential, 3 are inns, 4 are stores, 2 are churches, 1 is a library, 1 is a fraternal hall, 1 is a fire station, 1 is a statue and 32 are outbuildings. Only nine buildings are classified as non-contributing.
Buildings in the district date from the early 1800s through the 1930s. Examples prior to 1840 are rare. (nos. 3, 29, 42, 72, 75 and 78). The majority are from the 1850s and ‘60s (25 buildings) when the village was essentially established and most prosperous. These structures are primarily classical in form and detail and present oft-repeated characteristics of the Greek Revival style. Generally they are wood frame, one and a half and two and a half story gabled buildings with corner pilasters, heavy cornices and trabeated entrances. Commonly their nineteenth-century outbuildings are retained. Victorian styles are few due to a decline in the economy and a preference for the lingering Greek Revival style. There are several Colonial Revival and Bungalow type residences and a small-scale, but monumental library that resulted from a flurry of economic activity early in this century. Construction and alterations during the recent past was limited, thus preserving Danby’s historic integrity.
Descriptions of individual buildings in the District are as follows (numbers refer to the enclosed sketch map):
1. Miller Barn, c.1855
Within close proximity to no. 2, the Miller House, and immediately adjacent to the road is a one and a half story clapboarded barn. The main gable front block has a gabled ell on the south facade. Both main block and ell have two large barn doors. Corner and frieze boards detail the building. Beers Atlas (1869) indicates that a carpenter shop was once located on the site, perhaps in this structure.
2. Miller House, c.1855
This gable front clapboarded two and a half story Greek Revival residence is one of several similar structures in Danby that resulted from the burgeoning of the marble industry during the 1850’s. It was built for John H. Vail and was later owned by Prince Hall, who, according to Williams’ history, ranked among the wealthy men of the town.
The temple-like mass of the main block is three by three bays with a contemporaneous one and a half story ell that extends from the north wall. Prominent on the front facade of the main block and located on all of the building’s corners, including the ells, are paneled corner pilasters which support a large entablature and heavy cornice that returns. This configuration of large scale and high relief classical detail is repeated throughout Danby and may be the work of one or a few craftsman. The main sidehall entrance is detailed with pilasters that flank full length side lights. Above the door lies a glazed transom with a carved leaf pattern in the transom bar. The windows include long six over six sash with slightly pitched lintel boards.
An Italianate style porch was added to the front of the ell and extends over the main entrance. It has a balustrade, chamfered posts on pedestals and scroll shaped brackets that are decorated with an incised floral pattern. The porch roof is continuous with the ell’s, creating an overshot effect. The roof of the entire house is sheathed in slate and the building rests on a massive cut marble foundation.
3. Danby Congregational Church, 1838
The vernacular Gothic style Danby Congregational Church was built in 1838 as a Union Church for the town’s Episcopal, Methodist, Close Communion Baptists, and Quakers. Although simply detailed, pleasing proportions and a prominent site make this an important and well-respected landmark in the village.
The building’s basic New England Church form remains unchanged despite several alterations. It includes a rectangular gabled nave with an engaged rectangular entrance tower that projects slightly from the center of the front facade. A heavy cornice with returns demarcates the eave of the nave. The tower is topped by a smaller rectangular louvered belfry. (A bell was installed in 1860). Both belfry and tower are trimmed with iron cresting which replaced wooden pinnacles probably during 1885 alterations. The tower is flanked by Gothic pointed windows with intersecting Gothic tracery. Above the entrance is a blind opening identical to, but of a larger scale than the front Gothic windows.
In 1915 a pedimented porch was added to the main central recessed entrance. It includes square columns and a sunburst motif in the tympanum of the pediment. A one-story hipped roof wing which wraps around the rear of the structure and provides additional entrances on the rear sides was also added in 1915. It serves as a vestry.
4. McLellan House, c.1855
This standard gable front, classically detailed Greek Revival house is repeated in form and detail throughout the village. The great number of similar buildings of outstanding stylistic quality and high degree of craftsmanship indicate the prosperity brought by the marble industry during the mid-nineteenth century. The house was built by Dr. E. O. Whipple during the 1850s, and was later owned by J. Scott. He, like the residents of similar houses, was a prosperous citizen and is described as an active businessman who accumulated a good property.
The temple-like two and a half story mass of the main block is three by three bays with a one and a half story ell attached to the west facade. It has a slate roof and rests on a massive marble foundation. Paneled corner pilasters that support a full entablature and heavy cornice with returns mark the building’s four main corners.
The large scale and high relief of the building’s details are Danby’s trademark and may be the work of one or a few mid-nineteenth century craftsmen. The front facade is also decorated with a triangular louvered vent in the gable at the attic level.
The recessed front sidehall entrance is detailed with full-length side lights, a transom bar with fretted details, transom light and flanking fluted pilasters. Sash includes two over two windows with slightly pitched pediment-shaped lintel boards and louvered shutters. The ell is similarly detailed. Its front is spanned by a shed-roofed porch with a balustrade and square columns with scroll-shaped floral-incised brackets. A flat-roofed wing on the west end of the ell has the same brackets under its eave cornice.
To the rear of the main block is a one and a half story gabled wing and attached to the wing is an ell that serves as a shed/garage. These outbuilding additions, in contrast with the front of the house, have random window placement and are lacking in detail.
5. LaBatt House, c.1860
Most of Danby’s nineteenth-century Greek Revival buildings suggest temples in their orientation and detail. However, they do not, as the LaBatt House, literally replicate the temple form in miniature. Built during the 1860s as a bank, the structure functioned for a few short years as a financial institution before it served as a Catholic Church from 1872 until 1947. It is currently a residence.
Constructed of brick, the rectangular block has a slightly pitched sheet metal covered gable roof. A pedimented Doric portico with four fluted columns and three part entablature spans the three-bay front facade. These columns are echoed by wide brick pilasters on the front corners and along the side facades. The central front entrance has a tall perched double door that is topped by a square marble lintel and small half-story window above. Two tall narrow six over six windows with square marble lintels flank the door; similar windows mark the three bays of each side elevation.
6. LaBatt Garage, 1950
This gable-roofed, one-bay structure serves as a garage for residence #5. It does not contribute to the historic district.
7. Griffith House, c.1880
The Griffith House displays a combination of late Greek Revival and Italianate details along with added Colonial Revival characteristics. Although similar in plan, form, and classical detailing to earlier Greek Revival houses in Danby, its steeply pitched roof, bracketed porch, and Victorian window detail indicate a later nineteenth-century date.
The main gable-front one and a half story block is one by two bays; a one and a half story eaves front ell, which includes the main entrance, is attached to the east facade. To the rear of the ell is a one and a half story wing detailed similarly to the main block. The house is clapboarded and rests on a marble foundation. The front gable facade is dominated by a one-story polygonal bay window decorated with raised spandrel panels below the windows and incised scroll-shaped brackets supporting a slight mansard roof. Above the bay window lie a pair of narrow windows joined under a sculptured curved and incised lintel board. This curvilinear detail contrasts with the full entablature and heavy cornice found on all of the building’s facades. The entablature is not supported by pilasters. Instead, narrow corner boards mark the four corners. The side, rear, and ell windows are detailed with shallow pitched pediment-shaped lintel boards. These and all of the windows have one over one sash and louvered shutters.
Spanning the front of the ell is an added Colonial Revival porch with Tuscan columns and balustrade rail. The roof of the porch continues the slope of the ell’s roof, thus creating an “overshot” effect. All portions of the house’s roof are sheathed in slate.
8. Griffith Barn, c.1880
To the rear of no.7 is a detached gable roof barn. The eaves front side includes a swinging large double door. The barn has a slate roof and is clapboarded. The corners and eave line are marked by corner and frieze boards.
9. Perlitz House, c.1865
The ubiquitous Danby Greek Revival House is repeated in the form and detail of the Perlitz House. The structure has the standard gable-front orientation and classical decoration, although the scale is diminished by its one and a half stories, two bay front facade and scaled-down paneled corner pilasters, frieze board and cornice. The roof is sheathed with slate. Like no. 7, the main entrance is in the ell to the east of the main facade.
The entrance is simply detailed, and has a modern pedimented entry porch supported by open wrought iron posts. Windows throughout include two over two sash with larger versions on the first floor. Window openings are topped with a lip molded lintel board and some openings have louvered shutters. A modern gabled wing is attached to the rear of the ell.
10. Perlitz Barn, c.1885
To the rear of no. 7, and immediately adjacent to no. 11 is a detached, gabled, clapboarded barn. The structure has a shed-roofed wing along its eave front side. The wing includes large double vertical board swinging doors and a standard size door.
11. Falzo Barn, c.1880
This gable slate-roofed clapboarded barn serves the Falzo House, no. 13. Its east gable end is flush with outbuilding no. 10. One and a half stories in height, it has three large double barn doors with three small six paned kneewall windows above along the structure’s front eaves side. A second-story stairway and porch provide access to the upper story entry on the west gable end.
12. Falzo Chicken Coop, c.1930
This small gabled chicken coop lies to the rear of the Falzo House, no. 13.
13. Falzo House, c.1855
The Falzo House is another of Danby’s Greek Revival temple front houses built during the initial years of the marble industry boom. It differs from the majority of similar contemporaneous structures, however, in its smaller scale (one and a half stories rather than two and a half and three by two bays) and its noteworthy dressed white marble raised basement. This raised foundation causes an effect of height which is in keeping with the classical tradition of locating a temple on an elevated site.
The main front facade is on the gable end. The raised main left sidehall entrance is trimmed with pilasters and an entablature. A later two bay raised porch with small scroll-shaped brackets, spindle valance and square balustrade rail shelters the entrance. An additional basement entrance is located directly beneath the main entrance.
One of the early owners of the house, perhaps the original owner, was the Hon. Morris H. Cook, a lawyer and County Judge. He probably used the basement as an office, thus explaining the front basement entrance. Detail on the main block includes the typical Danby large-scale entablature and cornice with returns, although the plain pilasters are simpler than those on similar structures.
A gable-roofed one and a half story wing is attached to the rear of the main block. It is probably contemporaneous with the main block and is detailed similarly with entablature, cornice and cornice returns; unlike the main block. The basement is at grade. An entrance on the south facade of the wing accommodates the building’s corner location. Surrounding the entrance is a shed-roofed porch that includes turned posts with brackets decorated with an incised floral design, a balustrade rail, and valance.
The entire building is sheathed in clapboards and has a slate roof. All of the windows are detailed with lip moldings above, and include one over one, two over two, and six over six sash.
14. Blue Inn, c.1855
Flanking gabled one and a half story ells add balance and grace to this typical Danby clapboarded Greek Revival two and a half story gable-front residence. The central block is heavily detailed in the Greek Revival style. Details included are, the often repeated, large-scale high relief paneled pilasters, entablature, heavy cornice and cornice returns. A triangular vent, now filled with clapboards is in the gable peak. The left sidehall entrance has pilasters, sidelights, glazed transom and a full entablature. The transom bar has curved fretted dentils. Tall nine over six sash light the first floor and smaller six over six sash light the second floor. Simple lip moldings top the window openings.
The symmetrical flanking ells are set back from the main block. Less elaborately detailed, they have plain window and door surrounds and simple cornice and frieze boards. The rear facade of the north ell has a shed addition and gable dormer. Both appendages have matching central five-panel doors flanked by nine over six sash. Flush vertical siding covers the first floor front of the ells, while clap-board covers the remainder. This setting off of the ell facades with siding and the separate entrances perhaps indicate an original commercial or professional use, while the central block was the proprietor’s or professional’s residence.
15. Blue Inn Shed, c.1925
To the rear of no. 14 is a long narrow shed/garage with a low pitched gable roof. It is the last structure remaining from Bond’s Hotel which stood where the Catholic Church, no. 16, is presently located.
16. Catholic Church, 1946
The Catholic Church built in 1946, is located on the site of Danby’s only major nineteenth-century hotel, Bond’s, which burned in 1934.
The barn-like, gambrel-roofed, wood-frame structure is not a traditional looking church. It is simply detailed with an enclosed one bay gambrel-roofed entrance porch, a stained glass tri-partite window above the entrance cross on the roof peak above the window and five stained glass windows lining the eaves side. Six buttresses lining the sides give added structural support. The building sits on a poured cement foundation. It is curved with asphalt siding and has an asphalt roof. Due to its age, it is considered non-contributing to the character of the historic district.
17. Walsh House, c.1868
This clapboarded, two and a half story, slate-roofed Greek Revival residence has a standard temple-like gable-front orientation with a collection of connecting slate-roofed ells and wings to the left and rear of the main block. The classical detailing of the main block is simpler and more vertical than contemporaneous Danby structures, despite the fact that the house was owned around its time of construction (1869) by G. W. Potter who is described as a carpenter and joiner by trade. Relatively thin pilasters support a deep entablature and cornice with returns. The scaled down main entryway has paneled pilasters that support a plain lip-molded lintel. All of the house’s sash has been replaced with modern one over one windows and a first-floor picture window intrudes on the west facade.
The two and a half story gabled ell attached to the east facade does not have the Greek Revival detail of the main block. Cornerboards are all that mark the edges of the addition. Attached to the rear of the ell is another simply detailed gabled two and a half story ell. It has a side entry on the west facade that is protected by a shed-roofed entry hood. Attached to the additional ell is a gabled wing. The wing once functioned as a barn. It has six over six sash and, sliding barn doors on the west facade.
18. Nerney House, c.1860
The unique form of no. 18 consists of two intersecting clapboarded blocks. The larger two and a half story central gable-front portion is set within a one-story, five by two bay horizontal block. In the center of the front facade is a recessed entrance porch with two doorways. One is offset to the left and the other, probably added, is on the east wall of the recession. The porch is sheathed in horizontal flush board siding. It is supported by added turned posts.
Typical Greek Revival details on the front facade include paneled pilasters, and an entablature with heavy cornice with returns. The main facade’s fenestration is not symmetrical despite the building’s balanced form. One over one sash has replaced original sash. A wing, simply detailed with corner and frieze boards is attached to the rear of the main block: Additional entrance is provided through a board and batten door with a gable hood on the east facade of the wing. The entire structure has a slate roof and rests on a marble foundation.
19. Wilcox House, c.1850
There are a few Greek Revival Classic Cottage type residences in Danby. This high kneewall example, which is identical to the main block of the Davison House, no. 22, is detailed with modest cornerboard pilasters, frieze boards, and a returning cornice. The central entrance on the five bay front facade has 2/3 side-lights, paneled pilasters, and a full entablature.
Windows are primarily one over one. There are some small modern awning windows on the east gable end. The rear ell has undergone recent alterations which significantly detracts from its original appearance. The building’s roof is sheathed in slate and the structure sits on a marble foundation. There is a brick stove chimney on the east gable end, and a cinderblock chimney on the west.
20. Hall House, c.1855
The Gothic Revival style is suggested by the steeply pitched gabled central wall dormer of this otherwise Greek Revival Classic Cottage. Classic details include cornerboards, and an entablature with a heavy cornice with returns. The central entrance is trimmed with simple boards that suggest columns and a cornice and an entablature.
An added Colonial Revival porch with Tuscan columns spans the front facade, and flat roofed wing, added in 1896, is on the east end of the porch. A long two-story gabled ell extends from the rear of the main block. Simply detailed with corner and frieze boards, it includes two side entrances on the east and west facades and a shed in the far rear section. Windows throughout the house are one over one and two over one. The building has a slate roof and massive marble foundation.
Unlike other houses in the village, it is set back from the street with a spacious lawn and shade trees which add a picturesque quality to the house. A late nineteenth-century cast iron fence surrounds the yard. It is stamped “The Stewart Iron Works Cincinnati, Ohio”.
Beers (1869) map of Danby shows the house owned by W. Kelley. Local residents claim a Mr. Crosby lived there at the turn of this century. He built the wing, probably landscaped the site and added the fence.
21. Hall Barn, c.1855
To the rear of no. 20 is a contemporaneous well-preserved gabled banked timber frame barn. Clapboarded, it is detailed with corner and frieze boards. The east gable end includes large garage doors. Three six over six sash line the eaves side. There is a basement entrance on the south eaves side.
22. Davison House, c.1850
This one and a half story Greek Revival Classic Cottage is nearly identical to no. 19, except for the continuous chain of wings and ells attached to the east and south sides of the main block. It has paneled pilasters and a frieze boards under the eave and raking eaves. The central entrance has 2/3 side lights, and paneled pilasters that support a full entablature. The building’s high kneewall is topped by a deep eave and cornice which returns. Sash primarily includes two over two windows with slightly shouldered surrounds topped by a lip molding.
A simply detailed two bay gabled wing is attached to the east wall. An entry porch spans the eaves side of the wing and encloses a left bay entrance. The porch has square posts and a balustrade. Attached to the east gable end of the wing is a gabled barn. It has a large polygonal shaped double door with diagonal siding on the south gable end. Attached to the rear eaves side of the barn is an additional ell/barn. Twelve over twelve sash on the ell may be recycled from an earlier building.
Buildings nos. 22 and 23 were owned by William Kelley in 1869. He was one of the first, in 1840, to begin a marble cutting operation in the village which may have been located to the rear of the house along Mill Brook. Later in 1881. David A. Kelley had a blacksmith shop near the house, perhaps in the present no. 23.
23. Davison Barn, c.1850
To the rear of no. 22 is a detached shed. It is of post and beam construction with a gable roof. The west eaves wall has been removed to accommodate car storage. It has a sheet metal roof and added asphalt siding. A woodshed is attached to the south gable end. The structure may have been associated with David A. Kelley’s blacksmith shop during the 1880s.
24. Talbot Tenant House, c.1885
The original function of this uniquely shaped vernacular building is unknown. It does not appear on nineteenth-century maps. It may have been put together for storage or commercial use with sections of structures remaining from the marble business that operated on nearby Mill Brook during the 1840s and ‘50s.
The two by one bay gabled front section is devoid of detail. The slate roof has no cornice or returns. Window and door openings are few. On the front facade there is a central modern flush door, and, to the right, a single six over six window with a lip-molding above and louvered shutters. Solitary second-story windows with shutters are in the gable ends. A simple long gabled ell extends to the rear of the building. The entire structure sits on a marble slag foundation.
25. Old Blacksmith Shop, c.1865
This wood-framed one and a half story building functioned as P. A. Broughton’s blacksmith shop during the 1860s. Broughton lived in the adjacent no. 26. Fred Kendall ran a blacksmith shop there as late as 1927. The structure is in good condition and has not been altered. This contributes to its significance considering its status as an outbuilding.
The structure consists of two gabled blocks, end to end, with a gable front. The roof is sheathed in slate. On both blocks there is a fairly wide eave with a frieze board and simple cornice without returns. Cornerboards mark the edges of the clapboarded walls.
The front block is 3 x 5 bays. The front facade has a central barn double door with a slight shed hood above. It is flanked by six over six windows. Twelve over twelve sash is on the eaves sides. The three by four bay rear block is slightly taller. Two narrow tilted windows in the south gable end light the upper story. The eaves side includes a double diagonal board barn door with a transom above in the middle right bay. The north gable end is within close proximity to Mill Brook. It too has large double doors and a loft door above.
26. Talbot House, c.1850
This wood frame clapboarded five by two bay Greek Revival Classic Cottage is distinctive in the large scale of its front door and windows. The front facade is crowded with six over four sash with louvered shutters on either side of a detailed Greek Revival entrance. The entrance includes architrave trim that surrounds only the top half of the door and is flanked by fluted pilasters. It has a frieze and molded cornice above. The entry details’ carving is of a lesser relief than later Greek Revival examples in Danby.
Simple cornerboards mark the edges of the facade. A frieze board and cornice that returns demarcates the eave. Six over six sash are on the gable end. All of the windows are topped with a simple lip molding. A shed-roofed wing extends from the rear (north) facade. A side entrance off of the wing is surrounded by a flat-roofed entry porch with bracketed chamfered posts and a clapboarded rail. A shed-roofed screened in porch is on the rear west facade. The roof of the house is sheathed in slate and it sits on a cut marble foundation. The house was owned in 1869 by P. A. Broughton a blacksmith who had a shop in adjacent building no. 25.
27. Talbot Barn, c.1880
To the rear of no. 26 is a small gabled, clapboarded one and a half story barn. It has a slate roof and an eaves overhang without cornice detail. Window placement is random. A large door is on the east eaves side.
28. Latham Garage, c.1930
To the south of no. 29 is a long narrow, gabled and clapboarded garage. Swinging garage doors provide access on the south gable end.
29. Latham House, c.1830
This long horizontal wood frame gabled house is one of the older buildings in the village and one of the few surviving structures that predates the town’s mid-nineteenth century marble boom. Its six bay eaves front sits parallel and immediately adjacent to Main Street. It may have originally been a Cape Cod type house, but has since had a bay added on the southern end and its massive central chimney removed. It retains the characteristic Cape low kneewall construction.
Unlike the later Greek Revival structures in Danby, detail is sparse. Door and window surrounds are plain. Cornerboards mark the structure’s edges. There is a slight eave and the cornice returns. In the middle of the original five bays is a central corbeled stove chimney. Windows are two over two and are paired on the south gable end. The roof is slate and the house rests on a marble foundation. A gabled ell extends from the rear (east) facade. It has an additional entrance with a shed-roofed porch on its north facade.
30. Country Craftsmen, c.1900
Although no. 30 is very similar in form to Greek Revival style no. 67, it was built several decades later. The two and a half story wood frame store has a gable front orientation and is simply detailed with corner and frieze boards. Originally three bays across the front, the present far right bay of the front facade is a shed roof addition whose roof projects slightly beyond the extended slope of the building’s now asymmetrical gable roof. A two story porch spans the front facade. The porch has turned posts and a second story balustrade. The first floor commercial front has a slightly off-center entrance flanked by large 8 pane display windows. An additional entrance in the narrow shed roof addition, to the right of the facade, leads to upstairs apartments. Sash includes two over two windows with plain surrounds.
In 1912 Perry Bond added a rear two story two bay addition to the store. He operated a general store there until his death in 1937. In 1945 Maurice Belden added a north ell and ran the Danby Cash Market there until 1962. The two and a half story ell has a second story shed-roofed addition on the north facade supported by posts with a loading dock beneath it.
31. Country Craftsmen Barn, c.1915
To the rear of the Country Craftsmen building, no. 30, this gabled, clapboarded small barn in deteriorating condition. The front west eaves side has a shed-roofed wing with sliding barn doors.
32. Chaille Latham Garage, c.1950
To the rear of the Chaille Latham House, no. 34 is this modern gabled garage. It does not contribute to the historic district.
33. Chaille Latham Barn, c. 1900
This small gabled clapboarded barn is located to the rear of no. 34. It has a slate roof and a sliding door on its west eaves side.
34. Chaille Latham House, c.1900
This well-kept Colonial Revival residence is one of several on the north end of Main Street constructed in the early decades of this century during a revival of Danby’s marble industry. It consists of a three by two bay gabled main block that parallels the street. Long wings and ells are attached to the south and east facades. A first story porch spans the front facade. It has a shed roof, Tuscan columns, a frieze and denticulated cornice, and spindle balustrade.
Flanking the central main entrance are two large windows topped with multi-paned transoms of colored glass. The remaining windows have two over two sash and one over one. The main block’s slate roof has a moderately wide cave with a returning cornice. Two interior chimneys are on the far edges of the ridgeline.
The added one story south wing has an entrance at the gable end. It is surrounded by a pedimented entry porch with square columns and a shingled apron. The rear east ell has a porch with a shed roof, columns, entablature and rail on the ell’s south facade. A small one story wing which serves as a shed is on the ell’s east gable end. Noteworthy to the side of the house is a cast iron hitching post.
35. The Price Mobile Home, c.1970
No. 35, a mobile home, does not contribute to the historic character of the historic district.
36. Lassor Garage, c.1930
This shed-roofed two bay garage served no. 38. Clapboarded and with window detail similar to the house, the garage has two sets of swinging garage doors.
37. Lessor Barn, 0.1900
Behind no. 38 lies this substantial gabled outbuilding where M. C. White operated a paint, glass, and wallpaper store during the first decades of this century. This commercial building, oddly located to the rear of Whites’ residence has a simple six by two bay gabled form. A large multi-paned store window is in the middle right bay. The window is detailed with a cornice molding above and recessed panel below. The remaining doors and windows have cornice moldings as well. The main entrance is in the far right bay. A double barn door is in the left bay. The slate roof has a wide cave and simple cornice without returns. The original interior detail remains.
38. Lassor House, e.1895
This residence is a late version of Danby’s ubiquitous Greek Revival temple front house. It has a two and a half story, 2 bay gable front main block, but is larger scaled and more simply detailed than earlier versions. A lower two and a half story gabled 3×2 bay all with an additional entrance extends from the south facade, giving the house an L plan. Cornerboards trim the clapboard walls. The slate roof has a wide eave with a simple cornice that does not return. Supporting the house is a brick foundation.
Shed roofed porches surround the first floor front of the main block, the front of the ell, and a rear entrance. All of the porches have Tuscan columns, balustrades, and lattice skirts. The right bay main entrance is plain. There is a picture window in the left bay. The remaining windows have one over one sash except for a Queen Anne window lighting the stairwell. All have cornice moldings above and most have louvered shutters.
The house was built by M. C. White c.1895. He was an undertaker who also had a glass, wallpaper, and paint store in building no. 37 to the rear of the house.
39. Strauss Garage, c.1945
This one and a half story garage serves house no. 40. It has a wide gable roof with a deep eave and is sheathed in horizontal board siding. There are two double garage doors on the west gable end. The structure does not contribute to the historic character of the district.
40. Strauss House, c.1945
A 1 1/2-story neo-Colonial 3 bay, gable roofed house with side wings and front gabled dormers. Due to its age, the house does not contribute to the historic character of the district.
41. Halvorsen Garage, c.1970
This modern two bay garage serves no. 42. It does not contribute to the historic district.
42. Halvorsen House, c.1800
Despite its additions and added woodwork, the original post and beam clapboarded Cape Cod form of the Halvorsen House can still be discerned. The one and a half story gabled block is topped by a massive central chimney. On the front eaves facade, a detailed central one bay projecting pavilion with an incorporated first floor Colonial Revival porch was added during the early years of this century to replace a wraparound Queen Anne style porch. The gable of the pavillion has wood shingles – some scalloped, a round window in the gable peak, gable bracing, and paired windows. The porch has half length columns set on a shingled apron. Inside the porch, the oversized added oak front door is surrounded by fluted pilasters, and an entablature. Floral detailed cornerblocks are also included.
Cornerboards, a watertable and simple cornice on the eaves side remain from the earlier appearance of the house, however, the surface texture of the gable ends has been extensively altered by the addition of butt and scalloped shingles, vertical and horizontal boards and a uniquely carved cornice. Incised gable braces were also added.
A hipped roof, two story wing extends off at the south gable end. It incorporates a first story Colonial Revival porch similar to the front porch. Inside of the porch is a bay window with an entrance in the center. A rear shed roofed twentieth century addition spans the east facade.
Sash primarily include modern one over one sash with cornice moldings above. The front facade has two tripartite windows that consist of a large picture window flanked by narrow sash of the same height. The second story gable ends have two noteworthy small square windows under the raking eaves. The house has a slate roof and marble foundation.
A local history notes that c.1800 the house was a tavern kept by Bradford Barnes. This early date indicates it is the oldest house in the village. It is one of the few remnants of the village’s pre-marble era and reflects the period when Danby Four Corners, rather than Danby, was the center of the town and agricultural self sufficiency predominated. The tavern was later kept by Samuel Dow. By 1869 the structure was the farmhouse of Austin Baker. Local people today refer to it as the Ames farm, although it has been owned by the Halvorsen’s for most of this century.
43. Despres House, c.1920
The traditional Bungalow form of this one and a half story three by three bay residence consists of a low pitched gabled main block with a gabled projection to the left and a wrap around gabled porch to the right. The main block’s wide eaves have exposed rafter tails and are decorated with oversized open braces on the gable ends.
The large porch has square paneled battered columns set on yellow brick bases that are connected by a wooden balustrade. The columns support a wide frieze. The porch’s rafter tails are exposed. Window and door surrounds are plain. Tripartite windows are located on the front facade and paired windows are on the sides. The basement, above grade in the rear, includes a basement garage with large swinging garage doors. The Bungalow is one of only a few early twentieth-century structures in the district.
44. Davis House, c.1925
This Dutch Colonial residence, very common in suburban areas, is truly unique for the rural village of Danby and is only one of only a handful of twentieth-century structures in the village.
Three by two bays, and two stories with end chimneys, the house has a gambrel roof with integral shed dormers across the front and rear facades. The dormers have a wide eave and a frieze board below. The central main entrance includes a fanlight topped by an open gable entry hood. Windows are modern six over six sash with simple surrounds. A one story sun room with paired windows extends from the south facade.
45. Davis Shed, c.1925
This detached two story gabled shed with a one and a half story shed ell is located to the rear of no. 44. Access to the woodframe outbuilding is through large swinging garage doors on the gable end. One over one sash are included on the structure.
46. Bartholomew House, 1908
According to the present resident, whose family built no. 46, and lived next door in no. 50, this house was constructed in 1908. The relatively large two and a half story, three by two bay Bungalow has a gable roof which overhangs a screened-in porch that spans the front facade and is supported by square paneled corner columns. The roof has a wide eave with large exposed rafter tails along the eaves side and large brackets along the gable ends. A two bay shed dormer is in the center of the front facade.
The central entrance projects slightly. It is flanked by two large twelve over one sash. Paired windows are on the gable sides and small square windows are on either side of the second story gable windows. A rear shed roofed wing with a small one bay north projection is detailed with exposed rafter tails. The exterior of the Bungalow is sheathed in clapboard on the first floor and shingles on the second.
47. Bartholomew Shed, c.1908
To the rear of no. 46 is a detailed shed. The gable-roofed outbuilding mimics the house with its clapboard first floor and shingled second floor, wide eaves, exposed rafter tails, brackets, and shed dormer. Additional details include corner boards and a belt course between the lower and upper stories. A variety of sash with plain surrounds include a large twenty-four pane window, six over six windows and six pane fixed windows.
48. McLellan House, c.1890
This house reveals and characterizes the turn of the century wealth that a few of Danby’s residents were able to amass either through the marble or wood industries or commercial enterprises. The house was built in the 1890s by the McIntyre family. It has a simple four square plan and form with elegantly restrained Georgian Colonial Revival details. The building is capped by a hipped roof with balustraded deck. A Colonial Revival porch with columns, entablature, cornice, balustrade rail, roof parapet and lattice skirt wraps around the front and north facades. Pedimented double window dormers on the south, east and north facades are richly decorated with a carved scroll and floral motif applique that fills the pediment and with pilasters that flank the windows. A two story bay window protrudes on the south wall and a one story bay window is on the first floor front. Pilasters mark the corners and support an entablature with a unique architrave cut in a scroll motif. Window surrounds include cornice moldings. The front windows are paired and have two cornice moldings set in a rectangular lintel board. The north facade stairway light has a fanlight and keystone detail; the fanlight is filled with a carved sunburst. A brick fireplace chimney is on the south wall.
The main entrance is detailed with flanking half length leaded stained glass sidelights. Recessed panels are below the lights and a full entablature is above. A rear two story hipped roof wing has an additional Colonial Revival porch and entrance. There are some three over one windows on the rear addition. The entire structure sits on a brick foundation and has a slate roof.
49. McLellan Garage, c.1920
To the rear of the McLellan residence is a square clapboarded garage. Its steeply pitched hipped roof is covered with slate. There are two large swinging garage doors on the east facade. The doors and the windows are detailed with cornice moldings.
50. Danby Inn, c.1870
This essentially unchanged Italianate palazzo style house stands out among the profusion of classically styled residences in the district. It was built by William Griffith, a member of one of Danby’s more wealthy families, who, with his brother Silas, successfully ran a lumber and charcoal operation as well as a mercantile business in town during the second half of the nineteenth century. He and his brother were responsible for constructing no. 70 in 1862 as their business’ headquarters.
Both the cubical main block and wrap around verandah have polychrome patterned slate shallow hipped roofs with decks and wide eaves supported by scroll-shaped, incised brackets (paired on the main block). A tall corbeled chimney rises above the main roof. The main block also has a wide paneled frieze under the eave. The porch has a balustrade rail and half length chamfered posts set on ornamented bases. The frieze of the porch is visually supported by secondary paired incised brackets. The south end of the porch incorporates a solarium-like wing with large multi-paned sliding doors. A two story bay window with details similar to the main block protrudes from the south facade of the main block.
The double-leaf front door, offset in the right bay, has a molded curvilinear jamb. The residence’s windows primarily include one over one sash with heavy molded cornice lintels and on the first story front, curved lintel boards. Louvered shutters flank windows on the front facade. A two story gabled wing, to the rear of the main block, is detailed with paired brackets and has an attached shed and a hipped roof one story south wing that includes an additional entrance.
51. Danby Inn Garage, c.1930
This detached clapboarded garage services no. 50. It has a cubical form, hipped roof and large swinging doors across the south facade.
52. Nichols House, c.1915
The Nichols House has a simple four square plan and mass. It is typical of early twentieth-century housing mass-produced before and after World War I. Along with other residences in the north end of the district, it is one of only a few early twentieth-century structures in Danby.
The building’s hipped roof has a central hipped dormer on the east facade. Exposed rafter tails are under the roof’s and dormer’s eaves. A shed-roofed porch with half-length columns, a shingled apron and exposed rafter tails extends across the front facade. Windows include one over one sash that are fairly randomly placed and have plain surrounds. A large parlor picture window with multi-paned transom is on the first floor front, adjacent to the simply trimmed offset main entrance. The house is sheathed in clapboards on the first floor and shingles on the second with a wooden beltcourse separating the floors. A one-story shed-roofed wing extends from the rear facade.
53. Nichols Garage, c.1915
To the rear of no. 52 is this garage with a cubical mass and steeply pitched hipped roof. It has sliding garage doors and a shed addition on the west facade. Like the house it serves, it is clapboarded on the lower portion and shingled on the upper portion.
54. Wilkins Garage, c.1940
This modern small gabled clapboarded garage functions in association with no. 55. Due to its age, it does not contribute to the district.
55. Wilkins House, c.1850
The gabled main block of the Wilkins House is identical in its Classic Cottage form and scale to no. 56, immediately to the south. The Greek detail of the Cottage is restrained. Cornerboards, and not pilasters, frame the structure which also has relatively thin frieze boards and a moderately sized cornice with returns. The center entrance on the 5 bay front facade lacks ornamental detail. An added hipped-roof Queen Anne porch span the front facade. It has turned posts with small incised brackets and a clapboarded apron. A shed-roofed wing extends across the rear and has an entrance and porch at the north end. The windows have replacement one over one sash and cornice moldings above. Fenestration on the first story north gable end has been altered with the addition of paired windows. The structure has a marble foundation and slate roof.
56. Kligerman House, c.1850
The main block of the Kligerman House is identical in its Classic Cottage form and scale to no. 55, immediately to the north. The Greek detail of the Cottage includes thin pilasters, relatively narrow frieze boards and a moderately sized cornice with returns. Pilasters topped by an entablature surround the central entrance. The slate gable roof is broken by a small central gabled dormer.
An early twentieth-century wing and porch is attached to the south gable end of the main block. It has a shallow-pitched shed roof. The porch includes half-length paneled corner posts and a shingled apron. The wing has small quarter-sized windows and one over one sash. The main block has six over six sash.
The house was owned (in 1869) by G. W. Baker. He is described as a blacksmith and general jobber. His blacksmith shop as well as a livery, feed store and stable operated by Baker, were probably located in no. 57, just south of his residence.
57. Lewis House, c.1860/1940
This double house has been recently altered. It was probably originally built as a blacksmith shop for G. W. Baker who lived next door in no. 56 in 1869. Baker is also described in the Danby town history as having a livery, feed store and stable which may have been in this structure as well. During the twentieth century, it functioned as a horse barn for no. 56 until it was converted by the Whites into its present double house form. It then served as a Post Office and a barber shop and later was a barber shop and residence.
The clapboarded gabled block has its eaves side parallel to the road. Along the front facade there are seven bays with two entrances an the third and fifth bays) and a shed-roofed porch with square columns and a concrete base surrounding the middle five bays.
Detail on the clapboarded structure is sparse. Window and door surrounds are plain. The cornice is simple and does not return. There are cornerboards marking the edges of the facade. An interior slate chimney is on the north gable end.
58. Nichols Store, c.1900
Constructed circa 1900, this building still functions as a store. Sources differ on the origin of the building. The town history notes that it was constructed in three sections; the central part was a late 19th-century blacksmith shop and the front and back were added in about 1900 when the structure commenced operation as a store. Some local historians believe that the old blacksmith shop is still extant and freestanding and is building no. 57 in the district. Nineteenth century maps and exterior physical evidence support the latter theory.
The long narrow two and a half story gable front clapboarded structure is similar in form to commercial buildings nos. 30 and 67, but is devoid of detail. It has a slight eave with a boxed cornice which does not return. The large central entrance has double doors and is flanked by large multi-paned display windows. A shed roofed porch with metal columns and a concrete base extends across the front.
A one bay north wing includes an additional entrance on the main facade that provides access to an enclosed stairway leading to second floor apartments. The south eaves facade has a second floor entrance. Access is provided via an exterior stairway and entrance porch that has turned posts and a balustrade rail. The store’s fenestration is fairly random. Windows include one over one and two over two sash. The roof is sheathed in slate.
59. Stone House, c.1845, 0.1865
The house consists of three distinct gabled blocks. The eastern c.1845 block is two and a half stories with its gable end front. It has a left sidehall entrance detailed with half length sidelights and pilasters that support an entablature with projecting cornice. Narrow cornerboards support a frieze board and cornice with returns. The slate roof has a fairly wide eave. The windows which include one over one, two over two and a single six over six sash in the gable peak are topped by cornice moldings. A shed-roofed enclosed screen porch was added on the east facade.
The western block, c.1865 has a Classic Cottage form, with two front gable dormers breaking the line of the slate roof. It is simply trimmed with corner boards, a wide frieze board on the eaves side only, and plain window surrounds. The central door surround has molded trim with cornerblocks. An additional entrance on the west gable end has a gable door hood.
The recessed lower gabled block that connects the east and west sections was added later. It is one and a half stories with a relatively steeply pitched slate roof. Set back between the blocks its eaves facade faces front. There are four closely spaced bays across the main facade with an entrance in the middle right bay sheltered by a gabled door hood. The front two over two sash have plain surrounds. The boxed cornice has a frieze board. The rear of this middle block extends north of the other two, and includes a gable dormer and half-story entrance on the west gable end.
In 1869 the east and west blocks were separate but were both owned by Dr. Hall. He is described in Williams’ history as a surgeon from Rutland who also had a patent for a sewing machine. He left Danby for Chicago during the 1870s. The structure was later owned by Drs. E. O. and F. E. Whipple. The father and son team practiced there well into the twentieth century and may have been responsible for construction of the middle section which joins the two original structures.
60. Stone House Shed, c.1930
This small gabled, clapboarded shed has random window placement. There is an entrance in the west gable end.
61. Pearl Buck House, c.1862
Despite the addition of a large intrusive unfinished rear wing, the replacement of original sash with modern windows, and the alteration of the window and door arrangement on the front facade, the outstanding Greek Revival form of this structure, the former home of Pearl Buck, remains.
The building’s two and a half stories with raised cut marble basement rises impressively over Burrough Hill Road. A curve in the road causes the gable main facade to face the road, and also makes the facade a pleasing terminus to the view up Burrough Hill Road from the village.
The temple-like pedimented front is spanned by a two-story porch with paneled square columns and a solid panel porch rail. The columns support the main block’s entablature with heavy molded cornice, which continue on all facades. Behind the porch, flush board siding sheaths the front facade, and also fills the pediment. The remainder of the structure is clapboard covered. A centrally located recessed doorway provides access to the raised basement. This entryway includes a double leaf door with multi-paned glazing. Flanking the doors are six over six sash with simple surrounds. These windows and a six over two in the center of the main pediment are all that remain of the building’s original sash.
The building was probably built as the office and store of the Western Vermont Marble Company. The Company commenced operation in Danby in 1862 after buying out several local operators. A cutting mill was located next to no. 62 on Mill Brook and additional Company mills and structures were located up West Street (Burrough Hill Road). By 1869 the Company holdings were leased to L. S. Waldo who had previously acted as the Company’s agent. He was only in business a few years before local quarrying ceased until 1915. The building was not associated with this later activity, and it probably functioned as a residence until recently. It is presently vacant.
62. Kapusta House, c.1865
According to the present owner, this structure, which is now a residence, once served as a horse barn for the adjacent “marble mill.” Its simple stripped-down appearance indicates an outbuilding or industrial function, although its relation to Danby’s marble industry has not been documented.
The clapboarded gabled one and a half story block overlooks Mill Brook. Detail is sparse and includes only narrow corner boards, plain window and door surrounds, and a wide eave. The only openings on the main facade are an entrance on the far left and three windows immediately right of it. A shed-roofed entry porch shelters the door and two of the windows. A flat-roofed shed is attached to the west gable end and a rear shed-roofed entry porch hangs over Mill Brook. The building sits on a slag marble foundation and the basement is partially filled with slag.
63. Conklin House, c.1845
This clapboarded Greek Revival pedimented gable front house is one of Danby’s early examples of the style. The three by-two bay block is heavily detailed with a wide eave, and full entablature supported by corner pilasters. An early twentieth-century porch extends across the first floor front. It has a hipped roof and half-length columns resting on a shingled apron. The central main entrance is flanked by simple pilasters with a small entablature above. Sash include twelve over six and two over two windows with plain surrounds. To the rear is a gabled wing with a west side entrance surrounded by a shed-roofed porch. The house has a slate roof and slag marble foundation.
The house was owned in 1869 by T. Kelley. During the late 1850s the Kelley family was successfully involved in a number of Danby marble operations on Mill Brook, probably within close proximity to the house. They sold their holdings in the early 1860s to the Western Vermont Marble Company, but retained possession of this house. It is presently abandoned and deteriorated.
64. Ackert House, c.1855
Although this residence’s gable end faces Burrough Hill Road, the main entrance of the Classic Cottage is on the eaves side. A slate-covered shed-roofed porch with turned posts, scroll brackets and exposed rafter tails covers the entrance and left bays. Greek Revival detail of the block is sparse and includes a frieze board beneath a cornice that returns. The entrance is trimmed with pilasters, an entablature with corner blocks and a cornice molding. The unadorned sash primarily includes two over two windows.
65. Former Southern Vermont Mirror Office, 1895
The gable-ended block of the Former Southern Vermont Mirror Office, with its narrow proportions, has a vertical emphasis. The two bay front facade includes the main entrance offset to the right and surrounded by a plywood entry vestibule and a triple window with twelve over eight sash on the second floor. Detail of the main block is limited to corner boards and a relatively wide frieze board beneath an unadorned eave. An additional entrance that includes a shed-roofed porch is on the rear of the east facade.
The house was originally built as the office of the Southern Vermont Mirror, Danby’s only newspaper. It later served as the Woodsman’s Hall. The Woodsman were a local fraternal organization. It is presently a residence.
66. Danby-Mt. Tabor Volunteer Fire Company, 1938
The Danby-Mt. Tabor Volunteer Fire Company building is a one story wood frame structure with a wide gable roof and wide eave overhang. The gable end includes two front garage bays. The block is three bays deep. The firehouse was built on the site of a livery stable. Due to its age, it is classified as a non-contributing building.
67. River House, 1855
This two and a half, three by four bay wood frame clapboarded structure is the commercial counterpart of the many residential buildings constructed during Danby’s mid-nineteenth century boom years. It is located in the heart of the District, and with buildings number 68, 69, and 70, constitutes an unaltered, well preserved mid-nineteenth century commercial village streetscape.
The structure has a standard Greek Revival gable front orientation and is detailed in ways similar to contemporaneous houses, with a wide entablature with heavy cornice. Different however, are cornerboards rather than paneled corner pilasters. The building has a slate roof and cut marble foundation. The original six over six sash remain.
The storefront is unaltered and includes a central entrance with double-leaf half glazed doors, glazed transom and plain door surround. Flanking the entrance are two large fifteen paned display windows. A two story porch spans the front facade. The porch has a shed roof, square columns, a few simple incised brackets and a square balustrade. The subtly decorated brackets, appear frequently in the village (nos. 2, 4, 7, 30, etc.) A central door on the second floor gives access to the second floor porch.
An additional entrance is provided on the rear of the north facade through a paned half glazed door. An enclosed passageway over Mill Brook formerly connected the store with building no. 68. Presently the joists of the passageway remain, but all else, including openings in the builidngs, have been removed. During the 1860’s and 70’s, the store was Joseph Perry’s harness shop and shoe manufacturing operation. The house, connected by the passageway, was his residence. Later the store was Frank J. Raichi’s meat market.
68. Latham House, c.1865
Building no. 68 was once connected to the adjacent commercial structure no. 67. It was the residence (in 1869) of Frank Perry who sold harnesses and made shoes in no. 67.
The woodframe structure is sheathed in clapboards, has a slate sheathed gable roof and rests on a marble foundation. Its two and a half stories and two by three bay mass has a gable front orientation and side hall plan. Although it is Greek Revival in plan, and orientation, its detailing is not as elaborate as adjacent no. 69 or other earlier residences. The main block cornerboards support a scaled down entablature with cornice returns on the gable ends. The first floor front polygonal bay window and entrance detail were added at a later date. The bay is detailed with small Eastlakian brackets and a central window with multi-paned transom. The cornice of the bay continues over the front door where it is supported by engaged turned posts that flank the entrance. Sash includes two over two and some modern windows with simple surrounds.
69. Obediah Hadwen – Latham House, c.1855
This gable front clapboarded two and a half story Greek Revival residence is one of several in Danby that are repeated in form and detail and represent the burgeoning of the marble industry during the 1850s. In the heart of the district, it is an integral component of the village streetscape along Main Street.
According to Beers Atlas, in 1869, the house was owned by a Mrs. Bancroft. Her husband Amassa was a state representative. The Bancrofts were probably responsible for the building’s construction. Mrs. Bancroft’s brother, Obediah Hadwen, later occupied the house. He ran a successful tannery operation that formerly stood behind it. Locally the house is traditionally associated with Hadwen who lived there until the late nineteenth century.
The temple-like mass of the main block is three by four bays and has a contemporaneous three bay, one and a half story all that extends from the north facade and a rear one and a half story gabled wing. Paneled corner pilasters, which support a large entablature with heavy cornice with returns, and a triangular louvered vent in the gable peak are prominent on the front facade of the main block. This configuration of large scale and high relief classical detail is repeated throughout Danby and may be the work of one or a few craftsmen.
The main sidehall entrance is detailed with paneled pilasters that support an entablature with denticulated architrave. There is a glazed transom above the door. Windows include large 4/6 sash on the first-floor front facade, 6/6, and a few 2/2. Windows on the front facade have slightly pitched lintel boards.
The ell has an additional front entrance and a large continuous shed dormer on the east facade. Both the ell and the rear wing are more simply detailed than the main block with plain frieze and corner boards. The house has several chimneys – an interior stove chimney and two exterior chimneys on the south facade, one brick, the other cinderblock. The building site on a marble foundation and has a slate roof.
70. Vermont Village Square, 1862
This three story commercial structure is a landmark in the district. With its rectangular one bay deep, flat roofed, boom town front, it is significantly different from contemporaneous gable front, commercial structures in Danby. Regardless of this, however, it harmoneously blends in size and scale with the surrounding buildings, and is an integral component of the commercial streetscape. The unaltered facade also provides a pleasing terminus to the view up Mt. Tabor Avenue as one approaches Danby Village from the east.
The main front block is five bays across. The first floor level includes two entrances in the second and fourth bays. The left is recessed and flanked by large multi-paned display windows. The right includes a half glazed four panel door topped by a large glazed transom. To the right is another multi-paned display window. An open porch spans the first floor. It includes half length square columns that support an entablature and are placed on square paneled concrete bases (replacements). A central three bay second floor porch rests on the first floor porch roof. It has square columns and a balustrade. A door in the middle right bay opens on to the second floor porch.
Detail on the clapboarded front facade includes thin cornerboards and a wide entablature with a boldly projecting cornice. Original six over six sash with simple surrounds punctuate the second and third stories. Behind the rectangular main mass of the building is a two and a half story gable roofed section and behind that a one and a half story gabled wing. Both additions are simply detailed with cornerboards, plain frieze boards and boxed eaves. The north facade of the wing has a very wide eave, a small shed roofed wing and an attached deck.
Silas Griffith (see nos. 50 and 79) erected the woodframe store in 1862. His brothers C. H. and W. B. Griffith were the proprietors. It carried general merchandise and among many items, produce, local meat and hardware. The offices of Griffith’s lumber operation were also in the building. In 1904 Cecil McIntyre bought the store and ran it with Tom McQuinn. Warren McIntyre operated it later, followed by Abe Rosen. Mr. Rosen sold dry goods, boots, socks, etc. He also sold some second hand wares. His business continued until about 1930. Dave Candib ran the store in the late 40’s through the 50’s. It was then unused until, with the help of Pearl Buck, it was reopened in the 1960’s.
71. Village Square Barn, c.1865
To the rear of no. 70 is this clapboarded gabled barn in deteriorating condition. It includes a shed roofed addition on the west gable end.
72. Hinman House, c.1830
The gabled, five bay, eaves front block of no. 72 has general proportions that indicate an earlier construction date than most of Danby’s Greek Revival residences. The distinctly different form is not heavily detailed. There is a molded returning cornice and shallow eave which is flush with the second story front windows. Window and door surrounds are plain. An early twentieth-century screen porch spans the first floor front. It has a clapboarded apron, half-length columns, and a hipped roof. There is a diamond motif above the porch’s central double door. Another early twentieth-century change includes the addition of wood shingles on sections of the south, east and north facades.
To the rear of the main block is a very long (9 bays) gabled ell. It includes a kitchen area, storage space, and stable. It has a hipped roof dormer on its south facade and a recessed corner entrance on the north facade. During the twentieth century, this ell served as a stable for the postman who delivered much of Danby’s mail on horseback.
The house’s sash include 6/6 and some 2/2. There is a stove chimney on the north wall. The roof is slate and the structure sits on a marble foundation.
73. The Griffith Library, 1904
This small scale but monumental brick structure is one of only a few public buildings in the village. Its pleasing combination of materials and Its compatible scale blend nicely with Danby’s predominantly wood frame Greek Revival buildings.
The Classical Revival, hipped roof block has five front bays with a central entrance pavilion. The gabled buff colored glazed terra cotta pavilion surrounds a double glazed door and has square recessed paneled pilasters flanking engaged columns, an entablature ornamneted with egg and dart molding and dentils, and a keystone bracket and tablet with the word “LIBRARY” in the tympanum of the broken pediment of the pavilion.
The window surrounds, an additional name plaque with the patron’s name, and belt courses, immediately below and above the windows are also made of buff colored glazed terra-cotta. The foundation is rock-faced marble with round mortar joints. This use of local material and terra cotta contrasts well with the structures salt glazed buff brick walls. The library has a slate roof and there are tile ridge cap finials at the corners of the deck of the hip roof.
The window trim includes architrave surrounds topped by capped molded cornice lintels. There is a rear hipped roof wing. The wing windows are more plain and have splayed lintels rather than molded cornice heads.
The library was built with money donated by wealthy Danby resident, Silas Griffith (see nos. 70 and 79). He gave $14,000.00 for the construction of the building, $5,000.00 for books and $2,000.00 for expenses. The building represents the fortune and success possible for a local person developing local resources during the late nineteenth century and shows Griffith’s concern for providing local cultural amenities.
74. Merrill Barn, c.1860
No. 74 is a well-preserved barn associated with house no. 75. It is a woodframed clapboarded gable roofed structure detailed with corner and frieze boards. The two bay gable front has a sliding barn door in the right bay and a 6/6 window in the gable peak.
75. Merrill House, c.1830
No. 75 is the earliest rather high style house in the village. The five by two bay, two and a half story, gable roofed clapboarded residence displays characteristics of the late Federal and early Greek Revival periods. The eaves front form and fenestration and gable end blind louvered fanlights characterize the Federal style, while the central entrance surround and full entablature indicate the popular Greek Revival style. The entrance includes three quarter length sidelights and a glazed transom surrounded by pilasters supporting a full entablature. The roof is sheathed in slate. There is an added bay window on the south facade and a shallow rear gabled ell.
76. Ralph House, c.1925
No. 76 is a small two by three bay, one and a half story, twentieth century bungalow type residence. It is sheathed in wide clapboards. The front facade includes a recessed porch set within the gable end. The porch has a “Craftsman” style cobblestone foundation, clapboarded apron, and clapboarded half-length posts. There is a lunette in the front gable peak, a tripartite window on the main facade to the left of the right bay entrance and a wall chimney on the south facade.
77. Ralph Garage, c.1925
This two bay gabled garage serves house no. 76. It has two sets of half glazed swinging doors in the main gable end.
78. Masonic Lodge, c.1835
The Masonic Lodge was built as a store during the 1830s. It was operated as a commercial enterprise throughout the nineteenth century. Beginning with George and Aaron Vail, owners included William Sperry, Lapham and Bruce, Amara Smith, Bruce and Nichols, C. M. Bruce, and William Pierce. It has served as a meeting hall for the Masonic fraternal organization for much of this century. It remains today as one of the best preserved commercial buildings in Danby.
The one and a half story three by three bay gable front structure utilizes a varied and interesting combination of building materials. The front facade includes dressed marble on the second floor and coursed rockfaced marble on the first. Coursed rubble makes up the eaves sides and clapboard is found on the rear sides and rear gable end. The building has a slate roof, a full entablature without cornice returns, some rectangular marble lintels, and two brick stove chimnies.
A hipped roof porch spans the first floor front. It includes square columns with recessed panels, a balustrade, and entablature. The central recessed entrance is flanked by paired rectangular paneled pilasters. Sash includes six over six windows on the front facade and four over four and two over two on the remaining walls.
79. Melody Inn, 1890
The Melody Inn is Danby’s primary example of the exuberance and wealth common in American society and building during the golden years of the late nineteenth century. It is the quintessential towering Queen Anne style house built by one of the town’s more successful residents, Silas Griffith. The Inn is as elaborate as any more urban example. It is sited with its outbuildings on a landscaped hill separate from the village. Unfortunately, this structure, unique in Danby, has suffered within the last decade from unsympathetic alterations and deterioration.
Silas Griffith and his brother David (see buildings. nos.. 50 and 70) made their fortune in the lumbering, charcoal and mercantile businesses in Danby and adjacent Mt. Tabor. Tradition holds that Silas built this house after his second wife, a New York actress and dancer, refused to live in any of the existing Danby residences. Silas’ wealth extended beyond his home and lifestyle. He also funded the Griffith library, (no. 73) gave generously to the Danby schools, and established a fund which today still provides every Danby child between the ages of two and twelve with an annual Christmas present, candy, and orange.
The basic form of the house consists of a pedimented gable front two and a half story, three by four bay block with a smaller two and a half story rear wing, an assortment of porches, bays, and towers’ and an intrusive modern ell. Exterior sheathing provides a variety of surface textures and includes: clapboards, a shingled belt course at the second floor level, scalloped shingles in the front pediment, plain shingles in the rear pediment and diamond shaped shingles above the north facade ell windows. All of the walls are trimmed with corner and frieze boards. The house has a red slate roof and marble foundation.
The front facade is spanned by an elaborate verandah that curves around the south-east corner of the building. It has turned posts, a “Chinese Chippendale” balustrade, spindle valance and scroll-shaped brackets decorated with an incised clover motif. The porch includes a sunburst detailed pediment over the central entrance. The double-leaf oak front door is trimmed with a molded surround. Also prominent on the front facade is a recessed “shingle style” window in the center of the main pediment.
The front facade is flanked, on the northeast corner by a turret with an open second floor shingled porch and on the south side, by a two story polygonal bay window with a polygonal roof.
The south eaves facade includes a porte-cochere and side porch, both detailed like the front porch with turned posts, brackets, and spindle valance and a fireplace chimney decorated with a floral patterned terra cotta tile insert. The ell has additional entrances including a basement access and back door protected by a bracketed entrance hood. Sash is primarily two over two double hung windows with a larger version on the front facade. Window surrounds are plain and are topped by cornice moldings. There are Queen Anne style colored glass windows in the first floor of the bay window.
The intrusive 2 story north gabled modern addition is unfinished and deteriorated. It is spanned on the front facade by a 2 tier porch with a “Chalet” like cut-out balustrade.
The landscaped grounds include a front and north side marble retaining wall and stairway. Originally there were several outbuildings, including a greenhouse. Today no. 80 (the former servants house), no. 81 (a former barn and carriage house) and 82 (a probable guest house) remain.
80. Melody Inn Servants. Quarters, c.1890
This relatively elaborate outbuilding probably housed servants associated with the Griffith mansion (no. 79). The three by two bay, two story gabled structure has a projecting central entrance pavilion. The pedimented pavilion has a central entrance detailed with slender flanking columns, nearly full length sidelights and a cornice lintel. Above the door is an oversized shingled bellcast shaped bracketed hood.
The building is sheathed in clapboards and has various shaped shingles in the pedimented slightly flared gable and pavilion ends. The roof is slate. An exterior chimney rises on the south facade. The house rests on a marble foundation. Corner and frieze boards and beltcourses, above and below the first story windows, detail the building. The left and right front bays include Queen Anne style windows with borders of colored lights. The remainder of the windows have one over one sash. They all have plain surrounds topped by lip molded lintels. Some modern vertical board shutters have been added. There is a modern one story two bay flat roofed concrete wing on the north facade.
81. Melody Inn Carriage Barn, c.1890
This relatively elaborate outbuilding served the Griffith mansion (no. 79). The gabled three by two bay, one and a half story building has a central wall dormer above the large central sliding double door entrance. The wall dormer and pedimented gable ends are slightly flared and sheathed in shingles while the remainder of the building is clapboarded. It has a slate roof, a corbelled brick chimney and an added cinder block exterior chimney on the front facade. The walls are detailed with corner and frieze boards and a belt course below the windows. Sash include some double hung stained glass Queen Anne style windows with borders of colored lights. There is a single fixed Queen Anne window in the center of the wall dormer. A few windows are two over two. All have plain surrounds.
82. Melody Inn Guest House, c.1890
This small house may have been a guest house for the Griffith mansion (no. 79). The small gabled cottage has been substantially altered with changes in fenestration and the addition of a new porch. Due to alterations, it does not contribute to the historic character of the district.
83. Civil War Monument, 1920
The Danby Civil War Monument was erected in 1920 in memory of Danby native and Civil war hero Eugene McIntyre. It consists of a metal soldier figure with rifle and Civil War military uniform standing on an ornamented stone pedestal with stepped base.
Statement of Significance
The Danby Village Historic District presents a fine unaltered visual image of a Vermont village from the middle decades of the nineteenth century and, in doing so, reveals Danby’s evolution. Danby’s many Greek Revival structures and accompanying outbuildings were constructed during the village’s 1840 to 1870 boom period based on prosperity derived from the local marble quarrying industry. Several pre-boom era village buildings are also included in the District, along with a number of late 19th through early 20th century structures, principally concentrated at the north end of the village where they represent a later period of economic prosperity resulting from a rather shortlived effort to revive the marble industry in the early 20th century. Very few non-contributing structures intrude upon the 19th century character of the district.
Danby’s initial history follows a typical Vermont pattern. During the post-Revolutionary period settlers from southern New England cleared the hillsides and established small family subsistence farms. In the ensuing years, some agricultural products, most notably, wheat, beef, and later wool, were sold to urban areas, and villages, like Danby, consisting of a few residences, a tavern store, church, and school, were focused at road intersections or mill sites.
Danby village was established circa 1800 as Smoky Borough within the town of Danby. During the first three decades of the nineteenth century, including 1813, when Danby town reached its highest peak in population, the village was of secondary importance to Danby Four Corners as the town’s commercial and political center. The “Corners” was located in the preferred, more populated, upland regions, while the Borough was situated in the Danby lowlands on Mill Brook. This location caused the Borough to have some of the earliest mills (c.1800) in the town although none are presently extant.
In 1810 it is reported that there were several new houses in the Borough, as well as, two stores and a hotel. The hotel was located where the Catholic Church now stands. Histories indicate that the Cape style Halvorsen House (#42), built c.1800, and the oldest surviving house in the district, served as a tavern during these early years. Dating from the first decades of the 19th century are the Latham House (#17 c.1830), the Hinman House (#72 c.1830), and the Merrill House (#75 c.1830). These residences display late Federal forms but are only sparsely detailed with Federal embellishments. The one relatively early commercial structure remaining is the noteworthy Masonic Hall (#78 c.1835). This well-preserved, one-time store, is distinguished in its use of local marble. Oddly enough, it is the only structure in the district made entirely of the material, which was quarried extensively in Danby later on. The period’s culmination is represented by the Congregational Church (#3 c.1838). The landmark, with its typical New England Church form, demurely suggests the Gothic Revival in detail. It is one of a chain of Revival style churches located in towns along the Vermont Valley from the Massachusetts border to Lake Champlain.
Danby was able to sustain itself and grow during the mid-nineteenth century, unlike many Vermont villages, including Danby Four Corners, which peaked during the 1820s and ‘30s and then declined, as inhabitants left hillside farms for the west. An alternative to agriculture, marble quarrying and dressing, began in the early 1840s and continued through the 1860s. An 1850 report from Danby states, “Since 1840 the manufacture of marble has become the leading business in town, and this has had the tendency to revive other branches of business, checking the tide of immigration which has been draining our population for the past thirty years”. As early as the 1830s marble was quarried from the nearby hillsides and hand-hewn into gravestones. By the 1840s, several concerns were established along Mill Brook and were cutting the white stone for use as building material. The Kelley brothers were the first in 1839, to begin operating and were followed by the Fish and Griffith brothers, Aaron Rogers, Allen Conjers, and John Vail, to name a few. The arrival of the railroad just outside Danby village in 1851 added greatly to the development of the industry by eliminating the time-consuming and costly marble hauling treks across the Taconic Mountains to the trade crossroads at Comstock, New York.
The result of this activity and the prosperity it brought are clearly evidenced today in the Danby Village Historic District. Twenty-nine of the structures in the district have Greek Revival detailing and were built during the 1840s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. Included are earlier Greek Revival style Classic Cottage type residences, heavily laden with pilasters, molded cornices and trabeated entrances. More numerous are two and a half story gable-front houses. They allude to “temples” in their form, are also laden with classical detail, and frequently include a one and a half story ell.
Almost all of these mid-Century buildings have Danby marble foundations and regionally produced slate roofs. They are practically all of wood frame construction, although a unique exception is the LaBatt House (#5) originally a bank constructed c.1860. It is constructed of brick and its gable-front form literally replicates a Greek temple. Rather than the usual contemporaneous flattened main facade that consists of pilasters supporting a molded entablature, the small building has a full-height portico supported by Doric columns.
During the 1850s, there was a moderate depression in Danby caused by the bankruptcy of the railroad. This initiated a gradual decline in the marble industry during the ‘60s. Many of the small-scale entrepreneurs were bought out by larger stock companies. Most prominent of these was the Western Vermont Marble Company, which in 1864, was said to own 134 acres of land and 40 acres of white marble. The firm’s local office was located in the imposing Pearl Buck House (#61) and was run by Loren S. Waldo. One of the mills was adjacent to the house and the Kapusta House (#62) was probably an outbuilding for the concern.
Waldo managed the Western Vermont operation until 1870 when it closed along with all other Danby marble firms, presumably due to a poor economic climate and competition from larger marble companies in the Rutland area. By 1886 a county history reports, “There were formerly three quarries on Danby Mountain which are not now working. At one point some twenty-five years ago there were six mills here with twenty-six gangs of the old style”.
The demise of the marble business is as obvious in the Danby Village Historic District as the initial boom. There are very few buildings from the 1870s and ‘80s. The late nineteenth century styles were not imposed on the classical mid-century structures in the form of alterations or additions, but neither were the older buildings, and their outbuildings, neglected. Rather, the buildings were maintained as constructed, a trend that has continued to the present.
Although the marble business slowly succombed, the town was established and well located on the railroad line. The opportunity was available for at least one family to experience late nineteenth-century prosperity and wealth. Danby resident David Griffith, and his sons, Silas William, and Charles very successfully engaged in a variety of operations and businesses that included a lumbering and charcoal firm in Mt. Tabor and a store in the village.
The imposing Village Square (#70) built in 1862 and, at the time of its construction, “the highest building in Southern, Vermont,” was the headquarters for their business. Their residences, the Danby Inn (#50) and the Melody Inn (#79), both unique in Danby, display the rich curving irregularity of form and detail that characterizes late nineteenth-century architectural design. The Danby Inn (#50, c.1870) is an early Italianate palazzo-style house. It is decorated with scroll brackets and includes a spacious verandah. The later, more imposing, Melody Inn (#79, c.1890) represents the culmination of the Griffith’s wealth and indicates the lifestyle few of Danby’s residents ever achieved. Set on a landscaped hill overlooking the village, the Queen Anne style house is a varied collection of turrets, bay windows and porches, and has the characteristic variety of Queen Anne shinglework and stained glass. Several detailed outbuildings also remain.
Like their wealthy counterparts across the nation, the Griffith’s bestowed gifts upon their hometown. Prominent in the district is the Griffith Memorial Library (#73). The yellow brick Classical Revival library built in 1904 is one of only a few high style buildings in the village.
The turn of the 20th century brought a flurry of general prosperity to Danby. In 1902 marble quarrying was resumed for a few years as white marble returned to vogue as a building material. Danby marble found its way to the Supreme Court and Senate Office buildings in Washington, the New York Public Library and a multitude of banks and public buildings across the country.
Vermont Marble Company (of Proctor, Vermont) was the primary operator of the mines. They processed the stone in the hills, near the quarries rather than in the village, as was the case with earlier operations. Immigrant stone cutters were housed in these outlying areas. The resulting effect of the industry’s prosperity on the district is not as apparent as the mid-century economic boom. Nichols Store (#58) and Country Craftsmen (#30) were constructed to serve increased commercial activity and several residences were built along North Main Street. Some of these homes show the late retention of Greek forms (common in Vermont) and its blending with the Colonial Revival. Modern styles and types also represented include the Bungalow, Suburban Four Square, and Dutch Colonial Revival.
The more recent past is not evidenced in many changes in the District. After 1930, the local economy stagnated. Building in the village was at a virtual standstill. Route 7 was rerouted west of the village thus avoiding the strip development that usually accompanies a major thoroughfare. During the 1960s, slow deterioration of the village was addressed by the town’s most famous resident, Pearl Buck. She attempted to increase local awareness of the historical and architectural value of the village and spearheaded an effort to rehabilitate several village structures including the Village Square building (#70).
Today, a significant number of District buildings are undergoing restoration. Renewed economic vitality, derived from the opportunities for cultural tourism which the well-preserved village offers, is guaranteeing that this important historic resource will be preserved for future generations.
FOOTNOTES
1. The History and Map of Danby, Vermont, J. C. Williams. Rutland: McLean and Robbins, 1869, page 46.
2. History of Rutland County Vermont, H. P. Smith and V. S. Rann. Syracuse: D. Mason and Co. 1886, page 587.
3. Williams, page 58. 4. Western Vermont Marble Company 1864. New York: William E. Arthur Stationer and Printer 39 Nassau Street.
5. Smith and Rann, page 189.
6. “A Dream for Danby”, Pearl S. Buck in Yankee Magazine, July 1971, pages 48-53, 127, 128.
Bromley, Hugh, Interview July 1982. Buck, Pearl S., “A Dream for Danby” in Yankee Magazine, July 1971, pp. 48-53, 127, 128. Chace, J., Jr. Scott’s Map of Rutland County, Vermont (James D. Scott, publisher), 1854. Child, Hamilton, ed. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Rutland County, Vermont (Syracuse: Journal Office), 1881. Crosby, Suzanne F., Helen N. Macheski and Margaret R. Vernon, eds. Danby Two Centuries (Danby, Vermont), Spring 1976. Hemenway, Abby Maria, ed. The Vermont Gazeteer: A Magazine, Vol. III (Claremont, N.H.: The Claremont Mfg. Co.), 1877. Smith, H. P. and W. S. Bann. History of Rutland County, Vermont (Syracuse: D. Mason & Co., Publishers), 1886. Smith, L. B., “Rise and Progress of the Marble Industry in Rutland County Vermont” in Proceedings of the Rutland County Historic Society, Vol. II from 1882 to 1887, compiled by John M. Currier, sec. Western Vermont Marble Co. 1864 (New York: William H. Arthur Stationer and Printer, 39 Nassau Street) 1864. Williams, J. C. The History and Map of Danby, Vermont (Rutland: McLean & Robbins), 1869.
of way of North Main Street. It thence proceeds in a southerly direction along the latter line, passing east of buildings nos. 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, and 30 to Point B, located at the intersection of said line and the north bank of Mill Brook. The boundary thence proceeds in a northeasterly direction along said bank to Point C, located at the intersection of the bank and the Danby-Mt. Tabor town line. (N.B. The U.S.G.S. map inaccurately depicts the location of the town line.) The boundary thence proceeds in a southerly direction along said town line, crossing Mill Brook passing to the east of no. 19, crossing Mt. Tabor Avenue, passing to the east of nos. 18, 8 and 7, crossing Depot Street, and passing to the east of nos. 5 and 6 to Point D, located at the intersection of the town line and the eastern extension of a line 50 feet south of and parallel to the south wall of building no. 4. The boundary thence proceeds in a westerly direction along said extension, said line and a western extension of said line to Point E, located at the intersection of said extension and a line 300 feet east of and parallel to the eastern edge of the right of way of Main Street. The boundary thence proceeds in a southerly direction along said parallel line to Point F, located at the intersection of said line and the eastern extension of a line 50 feet south of and parallel to the southern wall of building no. 1. The boundary thence proceeds in a westerly direction along said extension, line and a western extension of said line, crossing Main Street, to Point G, located at the intersection of said extension and a line 1500 feet west of and parallel to the western edge of the right of way of Main Street. It thence proceeds in a northerly direction along said line, passing behind and to the west of nos. 82, 81, 80, 79, 78, 77, 76, 75, 74, 73, 72, 71, 70, 69 and 68, and crossing Mill Brook to Point H, located at the intersection of said line and the north bank of Mill Brook. The boundary thence proceeds in a westerly direction along said bank to Point I, located at the intersection of the bank and a southern extension of a line 50 feet west of and parallel to the west wall of building no. 61. The boundary thence proceeds in a northerly direction along said extension, line and a northern extension of said line to Point 1, located at the intersection of said extension and the southern edge of the right of way of Borough Hill Road. It thence proceeds along said edge of said right of way to Point K, located at the intersection of the southern edge of the right of way of Borough Hill Road and a line 350 feet west of and parallel to the western edge of the right of way of North Main Street. The boundary thence proceeds in a northerly direction along said line crossing Borough Hill Road and passing west of buildings nos. 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, and 43 to Point t, located at the intersection of said line and the western extension of a line 40 feet north of and parallel to the north wall of building no. 43. The boundary thence proceeds in an easterly direction along said extension, line and an eastern extension of said line, crossing North Main Street to Point A, the point of beginning.
BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
The boundary of the Danby Village Historic District is constructed to include the structures and environs that give the village its historic character. To the east of the district, and actually in the town of Mt. Tabor, lie a small number of non-significant structures including some modern commercial structures and altered historic ones along the rerouted U.S. Route 7 bypass which parallels Main Street to the east. A rising hill on Main Street at the southern end of the district provides a topographic and visual boundary of that end of the district; beyond the hill, a change in density and a drop in architectural quality reinforce the boundary. To the west, along Borough Hill Road, the district includes those structures which are visually related to the village center; beyond the boundary, Borough Hill Road, which mounts a hill as it leaves Main Street, curves out of view and gives access to several modern non-contributing buildings and a gravel pit. The northern boundary of the district is located at the terminus of a group of contributing early 20th century residences on North Main Street; beyond it lie a modern school and post office.