Wilmington Village Historic District - Wilmington, VT - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

County of district: Windham County
Location of district: Ray Hill Rd. & W. Main St. (VT-9) & VT 100, Wilmington
Created: 1980

"The Wlimington Village Historic District is a remarkably cohesive village with a high concentration of buildings which reflect an earlier 19th century era. Some of the buildings paradoxically antedate the District because the present village is the second location of Wilmington village and several buildings were moved when the new location was chosen.

"The land comprising the town of Wilmington was chartered by Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire on 29 April 1757, For ambiguous reasons, another charter was granted on 17 June 1764 and referred to the town as Draper. Because of the ensuing confusion caused by two grants, Wilmington 1 s growth was impeded for several years. Yet eventually questions regarding land ownership were resolved and the number of residents mushroomed from 71 in 1771 to 645 in 1791.

"Originally, the village was located on top of Lisle Hill, northeast of the present crossroads of Routes 9 and 100; the area where the present village is situated was called Mill Hollow because of numerous saw- and gristmills built on the Deerfield River. In 1831, a major stage route was completed running from Brattleboro to Bennington and bypassing the original village of Wilmington. This route is now known as Vermont Route 9. To capture business from stage travelers, a hotel, townhouse, and two stores were built alongside this road and the success of these ventures prompted moving structures building by building from the old center on the hill to cluster around this new thoroughfare. Wilmington prospered because of trade resulting from the stage route as well as from mills taking advantage of water power from the Deerfield River.

"Wilmington is a very compact village and has a large number of buildings for its size. Many of the lots along the main streets are long and narrow and the structures on these lots usually have a gable-front orientation, an effective way of utilizing limited space. Additions, placed behind the main structures, continue the ridge line and sometimes extend up to five sections. The Greek Revival style, which popularized the gable-front, was adopted by the town probably not only for its popularity, but because the gable-front siting was logical for the town lots. Whereas this style characterizes buildings constructed before the Civil War, the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century are represented by an eclectic variety of architectural styles. For example, the French Second Empire style can be seen in the former 0. 0. Ware building (#11) at the southwest corner of Routes 9 and 100. The Queen Anne style is seen in the Congregational Church (#16), The Crafts Inn (#59), attributed to McKim., Mead, and White, is an excellent example of the Colonial Revival motif with an informal sheathing of wood shingles." ~ NRHP Nomination Form