70 George Street
70 George Street is a one-and-a-half-story brick Greek Revival-style home, most likely built not long before the Civil War as part of the effort to house the growing population of working people that the town’s developing industries needed. It is homes like this one that still give the Old North End of Burlington its distinctive character.
The Battery Park area of the city was occupied by a 15-acre military encampment during the War of 1812. In 1827 the Champlain Glass Company bought the northern part of the encampment for one of the town’s first industries, producing mostly window glass, but also some bowls, bottles, and vases. There were supposedly about a dozen buildings in the complex, which was mostly bounded by North Avenue, North Street, Monroe Street, and Champlain Street, plus some properties on George Street.
Frederick Smith, in 1834, first leased and then later bought the business, running it with a series of partners until 1850, when profits failed and the business was closed. At some point the company land was divided into lots; some were sold. Finally, on June 6, 1856, there was a grand auction of the remaining lots (see map). Speculating on land and housing was very popular; buying building lots to sell, or else building on them for rental or sale was widespread among prosperous businessmen and lawyers, and also among ambitious young men just starting out.
So 1856 was a year for much land trading. One of the busier operators was Levi Underwood, a lawyer and banker, about 35 years old at the time. In the future he would be a Vermont delegate to the Washington Peace Council, convened in an attempt to prevent the Civil War; he was Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor from 1860-1862; he was president of the Bank of Burlington; he held local and state offices, but, as was not unusual at this time, he was not always careful about seeing to it that his deeds were properly referenced as to previous transactions.
70 George Street is not on the 1853 Presdee and Edwards map of Burlington. There are two small buildings, one on the corner of Peru and George and one facing Peru Street. Their lot includes the space where #70 is now. South of this is land belonging to the glass company. Levi Underwood obtained the corner lot by quit claim deed from Frederick Fletcher of Shelburne on April 19, 1856. Strangely, in this deed the lot is located “on the corner of Murray and Merrill Streets”. Underwood also used these street names in subsequent transactions with Moses Rose and Orrin and Elizabeth Blin, the residents. A penciled-in note on one of the Rose deeds says Merrill Street is George Street. There is no explanation for Murray Street in place of Peru. I found no other references for “Merrill” as the name of a street in this area.
On March 4, 1865, John Bourke’s mortgage with Levi Underwood was marked paid off by Underwood. A note beneath that one, dated March 22, 1865, says the first note was a mistake. Bourke had deeded the house to William Farnham on March 4th. It is not clear exactly what happened to solve this problem. John Bourke died of “a fever” seven months after he sold the house. He was 42.
The 1869 Beers map of Burlington has the initials “L.U.” on the lot, but on July 16th, 1872, James M. Farnham of Hartford, CT, who had inherited the house, sold it to John H. Waters, a machinist.at B.S. Nichols and Company, located in the Pioneer Shops on the waterfront. In the early 1880s, he was at Holt, Barnes, & Co., manufacturers of spools and bobbins, 361 Pine Street. By 1897, John was working for Lang and Goodhue,” hydraulic engineers and contractors for complete systems of water works” on Park Avenue (now Flynn Avenue). John died January 6, 1902. His wife Emily, and William Waters remained at the house for a short time, when Emily moved to 58 North Avenue, and William moved to Boston.
The next owner (November 1902)was Onesime Dumas, a boat caulker. At first, he rented, to George W. Shepard, a truckman, then to Margaret LaBelle. In 1906, the Dumases moved in. In 1908, Onesime and Nellie Dumas sold to Martin Vilas, a rental manager, whose tenant the first year was J.F. Gowette, a foreman at Consumers Coal Co. In 1909 Mrs. Ellen Dumas moved in, staying until 1916. Was she Nellie, Onesime’s wife? Between her departure and 1920 J. Robert Ray, an employee of the Baldwin Refining Company, then Jerry W. Willette, a printer with Merchant Press were the tenants.
In 1920, Robert and Ethel St. Dennis bought #70 and moved in. Robert was a tinsmith, a trade he practiced until 1927, when he went to work for the Burlington Refining Company . The 1940 city directory has Ethel running an employment agency; Robert is now a fireman with E.B. and A.C. Whiting, brush manufacturers on Pine Street.
In 1941 Joseph and Flora Watkins, listed as living at 79 Loomis Street, bought the house. He was a watchman at UVM. They rented to Mrs. Lillian Kennedy, who worked for the WPA. They were followed by Wallace E. and Mary Cross, (1943-1948). He worked for Burlington Cooperative Milk Product, and later for Queen City Tulatex Corp. The end of 1948 saw Harold and Angeline Roberts at #70. Harold was an electrical contractor.
The Roberts sold in 1962. The new people on the street were Donald and Marjorie Tuure. Donald was a route salesman for the Ethan Allen Creamery in Essex Junction. Marjorie was a dispatcher for Benway’s Taxi. In 1966, Donald is listed as a member of the US Air Force. That same year, the Tuures sold their house to John Reid, a land appraiser who lived on Spear Street.
The house is listed as vacant for the next two years. It was sold in March of 1969 to Gabrielle (Gay) McKenzie for $13,000. She lived in the house longer than anyone else, thirty years; her biography warrants further exploration! In April of 1999 she sold to Noah Dater for $69,000.
After Dater the owners were Michael Hannigan (2008) and Ethan H. And Ellen B. Laplante (2013) before the present owners took possession. Their home, and others like it on George Street, contribute to the neighborhood atmosphere of a historic section of Burlington.
Image credit: Redfin
REFERENCES
Land records of the Town and City of Burlington VT
City Directories of Burlington VT, 1865-1990
Biography of Levi Underwood of Vermont: Wikipedia
Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods, Volume I, David J. Blow; Chittenden County Historical Society, 1991, pp. 1-3.
Maps of Burlington VT (details)
Presdee and Edwards, 1853
Wainwright, 1862
Beers, 1869
Worley and Bracher, 1869
Hopkins, 1890
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1894 and 1900