NRHP Reference # 78000241 Added to NRHP 31 January 1978 | Area 28 ha | |
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Location Village Green and environs, East Poultney, Vermont Architectural style Mid 19th Century Revival, Federal | ||
The East Poultney Historic District encompasses the historic center of the rural village of East Poultney, Vermont. The district is centered on the triangular green at the center of the village, and was developed mainly from the late 18th through mid-19th centuries, producing a village with strong Federal and Greek Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Description and history
The town of Poultney was chartered in 1761 but not settled until 1771. East Poultney was its original town center, and thrived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with modest industrial activity powered by the Poultney River. The village was eclipsed in economic, and eventually civic importance by what was then known as West Poultney, and is now the village of Poultney. That village benefited by the presence of the major north-south route in the area (now Vermont Route 30), and the construction of the railroad. Growth and development in East Poultney was thereafter quite modest.
The district is centered on the triangular village green, which is bounded by Bird Street, On The Green, and East Main Street (Vermont Route 140). Parts of the district extend west along Main Street and east along River Street, which runs eastward just after On The Green (renamed Thrall Road) crosses the Poultney River. The village green is occupied in part by the East Poultney Baptist Church, a fine Federal period church designed by local builder Elisha Scott, whose work is found throughout the district. The only surviving remnant of the village's early industrial history is a c. 1810 blacksmith shop, which later housed an organ factory, and is now used by the Poultney Historical Society as a museum.