First Printing Press in Vermont - Montpelier, VT
Posted by: 
hykesj
N 44° 15.701 W 072° 34.762
18T E 693219 N 4903787
Once believed to be the legendary Stephen Daye Press, brought to Cambridge in 1638, it is now called the Dresden Press - the first printing press in the state of Vermont.
Waymark Code: WM16W2K
Location: Vermont, United States
Date Posted: 10/14/2022
Views: 1
In 1638, Stephen Daye, along with his family and a printing press, came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England. A blacksmith by trade, he came at the behest of the Reverend Jose Glover who desired a local printing operation in the colony. Details of those early years (just 18 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth) are sketchy, but it is generally accepted that this represented the first printing press in British North America.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, an old printing press was found in a barn in Windsor, VT, which was taken to the capitol in Montpelier. Some folks who were examining the press determined that it was the printing press that was operating at Dartmouth College in Dresden, VT (now Hanover, NH) around the time of the American Revolution and the first printing press in Vermont (both the Republic of Vermont and subsequently, the state). It had been used to print official state documents and also the first newspaper in Vermont.
Early twentieth-century historians traced the lineage of this printing press to Connecticut where it was known that the Stephen Daye press had been moved at the end of the seventeenth century. This caused a lot of excitement as they believed they had found the historic implement. The Post Office department shared their enthusiasm when they put a picture of this press on a 1939 postage stamp commemorating the 300th anniversary of printing in America.
But later scholars questioned that conclusion as they were unable to connect all the dots. In addition, after studying the papers of an expert on colonial-era antiques - none other than the original antiquarian, Isaiah Thomas - they determined that this was actually the second printing press in Connecticut but still the first in Vermont.
This printing press is an important historic artifact of a time when Vermont was weighing the options of being its own republic, becoming a part of Canada or joining the newly formed United States. As such, the press is on permanent display in the Vermont Historical Society Museum in Montpelier, near the Capitol.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1778
More Information - Web URL: Not listed
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