STATE OF VERMONT Division for Historic Preservation 1 National Life Drive, Floor 6 Montpelier, VT 05602 HISTORIC SITES & STRUCTURES SURVEY Individual Property Survey Form

SURVEY NUMBER: (Assigned by VDHP) Listed in State Register ☐ Date:

PRESENT FORMAL NAME: n/a ORIGINAL FORMAL NAME: n/a

COUNTY: Chittenden PRESENT USE: demolished TOWN: Essex ORIGINAL USE: house ADDRESS: 11 Park Street, Essex VT ARCHITECT/ENGINEER: unknown COMMON NAME: 11 Park Street BUILDER/CONTRACTOR: unknown PROPERTY TYPE: house converted to commercial DATE BUILT: ca. 1880 OWNER: 11 Park Street LLC ADDRESS: 32 Seymour Street, Suite 101, Williston VT 05495 ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC: Yes ☐ No ☒ Restricted ☐

PHYSICAL CONDITION OF STRUCTURE: Good ☐ Fair ☐ Poor ☒

LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE: Local ☒ State ☐ National ☐

STYLE: Vernacular

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Structural System:

1. Foundation: Stone☐ Brick☒ Concrete☐ Concrete Block☐2. Wall Structure

a. Wood Frame: Post & Beam☐ Plank☐ Balloon☐ Platform☒

b. Load Bearing Masonry: Brick☐ Stone☐ Concrete☐ Concrete Block☐c. Metal: Iron☐ Steel☐ d. Other:

3. Wall Cladding: Clapboard☐ Board & Batten☐ Wood Shingle☐ Shiplap☐Novelty☐ Asbestos Shingle☐ Aluminum Siding☐ Asphalt Shingle☐ Vinyl Siding☒Brick Veneer☐ Stone Veneer☐ Other:

4. Roof StructureTruss: Wood☒ Iron☐ Steel☐ Concrete☐ Other:

5. Roof Covering: Slate☒ Wood Shingle☐ Asphalt Shingle☐ Sheet Metal☐Built Up☐ Rolled☐ Tile☐ Standing Seam☐ Other:

6. Engineering Structure: 7. Other:Appendages: Porches☐ Towers☐ Cupolas☐ Dormers X Chimneys☒ Sheds☐

Ells☐ Wings☐ Bay Window☐ Other: Roof Styles: Gable☒ Hip☐ Shed☐ Flat☐ Mansard☐ Gambrel☐ Jerkinhead☐

Saw Tooth☐ With Monitor☐ With Bellcast☐ With Parapet☐ With False Front☐ Other:

Number of Stories: 1 ½ Entrance Location: Various Number of Bays: 3 x 5 (irregular plan) Approximate Dimensions: 25’ x 40’

Criteria for Eligibility: A: Historic☐ B: Person☐ C: Architectural☐ D: Archeological☐ Integrity: Location☒ Design☐ Setting☐ Materials☐ Workmanship☐ Feeling☐ Assoc.☐ Areas of Significance:

INTRODUCTION This Determination of Eligibility (DOE) was undertaken for 11 Park Street after its removal earlier this year. The 1-½ story house converted to a commercial unit and apartment was removed, along with two other buildings (9 Park Street, 2 Park Terrace), to clear a site for a redevelopment project on Park Street near the Five Corners in Essex Junction. The three buildings had been on lots merged in the 1980s and sold and resold several times as rental properties. The developer of the site had been advised that the current project was exempt from Act 250 under the regulations governing the construction of property housing and had obtained all required municipal building permits. The developer was later advised, after the buildings were removed and the project was under construction, that consultation with the Division for Historic Preservation was required to secure the Act 250 exemption. 106 Associates was contacted by the developer at that time to undertake the required consultation with the Division and has generated DOEs for two of the properties as the required first step. In the circumstances, this DOE relied largely on photographs obtained from Google Maps and Google Earth to gain an understanding of the most recent conditions of 11 Park Street. Google maps were particularly useful in providing exterior views of the building dating back to 2008. Sanborn Maps were also useful in tracking changes to the building and its context from the point it first appeared on the Sanborn maps in 1910. Deed research at the Essex Town Offices was also undertaken tracing the building and lot divisions to before its late 19th century construction. Several other documentary sources were also consulted to gain a full understanding of the history of 11 Park Street. ADDITIONAL ARCHITECTURAL OR STRUCTURAL DESCRIPTION: Eleven Park Street was a 1-½ story, wood frame, irregular plan house with vinyl sided walls and slate covered roof. The house was supported on a brick foundation exposed about 18-inches above grade, and brick chimneys rose against the west elevation of the L-plan front block, and the north elevation of the north block. The front entrance porch that shows in early Sanborn maps was removed and replaced with an enclosed structure with a membrane covered shed roof, and panels of jalousie windows fronting Park Street. After the front entrance to the house was repurposed to access the “office” that occupied the new façade addition (Map #15), a new entrance to the front block was cut into the east elevation gable that shows in Photo 10 with its door open. The original east elevation side porch was also removed and replaced with a modern door hood supported on plain brackets that shows in the same photo. The side entrance door was repurposed to access the rear apartment after the conversion to two units. Surviving wood trim appears in the most recent (2019) photos to have included shallow, boxed eaves with a plank soffit and ogee molded cornice, and partially intact window hoods over the first story gable end windows. It is known from 2017 photos that the molded window hoods had window valences with shark’s teeth detailing over the lower tripartite sash, and pointed arches over the upper sash with round topped head. The arched heads of the gable windows, and the ‘shark’s tooth’ valence had been removed by the beginning of 2019 by the previous owner.

The most unusual feature appearing on the building pre-removal were the tripartite, trefoil-arched sash centered in the gable ends. This is a Gothic detail, more commonly appearing in ecclesiastical architecture where tripartite windows, including trefoil, represent the Christian theological view that humankind is a composite of three distinct components: body, spirit, and soul. The heavy muntins on 11 Park could be construed as a simplified appeal to tracery which is used – most often in stone - to border complex window lights in ecclesiastical architecture. The trefoil arch windows were an unusual detail for this house, and we note that that the original property owner was Almon Rood, a millwright and carpenter. Rood may have constructed the house himself and included the windows, or they might have been added later, salvaged from another building. No photos were located of the building interior. RELATED STRUCTURES: (Describe) n/a STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Essex Junction traces its roots to the period following the American Revolution when Ira Allen constructed a dam at a natural waterfall on the Winooski River between what are now Essex Junction and Williston. Mills were built at the site, including a sawmill that processed logs for transport down the Winooski to Burlington. Th site became known as Hubbells Falls and became a center for industrial and economic growth in the Town of Essex.

North of the dam, two early roads connecting Burlington to points east and north formed an intersection known today as Five Corners. In the 1850s, the land beside the intersection would be used for a railroad junction connecting six different railroad lines. Among them was the line from Burlington to Northfield constructed by Governor Charles Paine, and the land around the junction was then called Painesville. The attached Wallings map (Map # 6) shows that homes, stores, and shops of various trades had clustered around the intersecting roads and rail lines by the mid-19th century. The rail lines had drawn commerce and development to the village, and had also pierced tracts of farmland, including one owned by H. Stanton in the area of study at the southwest quadrant of the Five Corners.

The attached 1869 Beers map (Map # 7) shows a switch yard and several sidings constructed to serve new and expanding industries at the growing village center, most of them concentrated north of Pearl / Maple Streets. By this time, and consistent with the pattern of increasing density of development at the Five Corners, the Stanton Farm has been subdivided and new residences constructed fronting the intersecting roads. The 1882 Hamilton / Child Gazetteer lists the new owners at the southwest quadrant as belonging to Elliot H. Bowman, a railroad switchman and assistant baggage master; Hyman Barber, a retired farmer, and; Almon D. Rood, a millwright and a builder and owner of farms in Huntingdon and Hinesburg. The Gazetteer also inventories village businesses at the time including several water-powered mills, eight stores, four blacksmith shops, livery stables, a wheelwright shop, a marble shop, a butter tub factory, two hotels, and an extensive brick factory owned by J.K. Drury & Sons turning out

4,000,000 bricks per year. Civic buildings including a graded school and village hall had been constructed, as well as two churches.

Continued prosperity through the late 1800s and early 1900s brought a third layer of development at the five corners southwest quadrant. Deed records at the Essex Town Offices show that the properties owned by Bowman, Barber and Rood had been subdivided by 1910 (Map # 11) and new houses constructed on the smaller lots as shown on the Sanborn map. Park Terrace and School Streets had also been laid out to provide access and street frontage for what had become a small residential neighborhood on twice-subdivided properties. The ca. 1878 graded school set back from Park Street was constructed on land donated for the purpose by Almon Rood with a covenant restricting use of the property for educational purposes in perpetuity. The Essex Community Historical Society reports that the building remains in use for education and as a result, is the oldest continually operating educational facility in Vermont. The 1-½ story, brick, gable front Rood house remains and is incorporated into a small strip development currently boarded and vacant in its original location fronting Park Street (Photo #1). The Barber house that anchored the corner of Pearl and Main Streets was removed. The Bowman house may remain on Pearl Street, but further work is needed to confirm this.

The new houses at the southwest quadrant would form a small neighborhood built over 30 years beginning around 1880. The attached 1922 Sanborn map (Map #12) shows the extent of the neighborhood bounded by Pearl Street to the north, Park Street to the east, and the railroad tracks to the south. While the residential pattern established by the subdivisions of the Bowman/Barber/Rood properties remained stable through the 1960s, as evidenced by the attached Sanborn map series 1910 – 1962, some changes had been made. For example, to accommodate increasing automobile traffic, garages were built behind several of the homes, and the Robinson house at the corner of Park and Pearl Streets had been converted to a filling station sometime between 1928 and 1944. The house was subsequently replaced by a bank building in the 1970s.

Karen Czaikowski surveyed the neighborhood at the Five Corners southwest quadrant on behalf of the Vermont Division for Historic Places, and the Division listed it in the State Register in 1980 as the School Street / Park Terrace Historic District (see attached SR Listing). As the name indicates, the District encompasses 12 houses lining the two streets. Regarding the architectural styles, the Statement of Significance states:

“The popular gable front and tri-gable ell house (# 1 ,3,4,6,7,9,10,12) is accompanied by the more elaborate configuration of a late Queen Anne style house ( #11) sitting prominently on the corner of the district. Between the late 19th century structures a few new century houses were erected representing the area's final development. A grand Colonial Revival style house (#2) with its original barn (now converted to an apartment) is detailed with a corner porch, textured facade and decorative fenestration. The only duplex and flat roofed building on School Street (#5) was built c.1915. The last structure to complete Park Terrace was built c.1910 in unique configuration with offset porch and front dormer, accompanied with an original barn/garage.”

The reconnaissance level survey of the district undertaken by 106 Associates revealed that the historic district is intact and retains a high level of integrity.

Around the time the historic district was being surveyed and listed,11 Park Street was sold to Richard Ward, one of three properties purchased by Ward in the 1970s and 1980s which included 9 Park Street and 2 Park Terrace. The three lots were subsequently combined by Ward and the buildings used as rental properties until their removal in the current project. Previous plans to remove the houses and develop the property date back to Ward’s ownership though none came to fruition. Among the recent attempts was a plan by Ming Properties to build a LaQuinta hotel at the site. Municipal zoning changes in 2015 increased allowable heights and strengthened plans to build in the quadrant. Shortly thereafter the People’s Bank building was replaced with the current building at the corner of Pearl and Park Streets. More recently, Handy’s constructed a 4-story seniors’ residence on land they retained after selling most of it to 11 Park Street LLC, under whose ownership the current development is being constructed.

HISTORY / INTEGRITY / ELIGIBILITY Deed research does not clarify for whom 11 Park Street was constructed in the late 1800s. It is possible that because Almon Rood was a millwright and builder, he may have constructed the house himself and either leased it or had family live there. It is known through deed research that the house was sold to Jerome H Downing in 1908, to F.H. and Nina P. McGinnis in 1910, to Hyman B. Willey in 1911, to Harry K. and Tracy K Teachout (dba Teachout Plumbing) in 1967, to Richard S. Ward in 1977, to Ming Properties in 1991, to Park Street Holding Company in 2006, to Handy’s Hotels and Rentals in 2014, and to 11 Park St LLC in 2019 who removed the building to advance the mixed use development project now underway at the location. The house was leased for varied uses since Ward’s ownership, and altered to create separate front and rear units. The rear unit was rented until shortly before its removal but was known to have been in extremely poor condition per local officials. The front unit was leased for commercial retail purposes, including a camping supplies store, but had been vacant for several years. An attached barn to the rear of the building appearing in the 1910 Sanborn has been removed and a larger building constructed at the back of the lot noted as “sales” by 1922, indicating ongoing commercial activity behind the house. The sales building is noted on the 1962 Sanborn but was no longer standing by 2008. That same 1962 map shows an enclosed addition to the front of the house, noted as an “office” in the location of the original open façade entrance porch. It is likely that the new entrance door to the front unit was cut into the east elevation when the entrance porch was converted to an office. Other changes included removal of the east elevation side porch where a modern door hood now shelters the entrance, and installation of vinyl siding. No photos of the interior have been located. The house had some interesting and unusual details – including the tripartite, arched window on the east elevation. That Almon Rood was a millwright and builder might explain the unusual window. However, this house does not appear to be individually eligible for listing in the State Register due to alteration. And despite the fact the case is made in the DOE for the adjacent property at 9 Park Street to be eligible for listing in an enlarged School Street / Park Terrace Historic District, 11 Park Street does not appear to be eligible for reasons of excessive alteration. Alterations that degraded the building’s integrity included removal of the original entrance porch and constructing in its place an addition on a larger footprint lighted by banks of mid-century jalousie windows; relocation of the front door from the street facing façade to the side elevation; removal of the east

elevation porch; alterations to windows, removal of character-defining wood trim, conversion of the single family home to two separate units; and covering the house with vinyl siding with conjectural trim elements. REFERENCES: Wallings Map: 1857 Beers Map: 1869 Aerial Map: UVM Landscape Change Aerial Map: 1962, State of Vermont Sanborn Maps: 1894, 1899, 1904, 1910, 1922, 1928, 1944, 1962 Google Maps: Various Dates State Register Listing for School Street / Park Terrace Historic District Child Hamilton Gazetteer, 1882 Deed Records, Town of Essex Parcel Maps, Town of Essex Interview with Tim Jerman, Essex Community Historical Society Area Wide Assessment, Village of Essex Junction by Stone Environmental, July 2012 Newspapers.com MAP: (Indicate North in Circle) See attached☒

SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT: Open Woodland ☐ Woodland ☐ Scattered Buildings ☐ Moderately Built Up ☒ Densely Built Up ☐ Residential ☒ Commercial ☒ Agricultural ☐ Industrial ☐ Roadside Strip Development ☒ Other:

RECORDED BY: Scott Newman

ORGANIZATION: 106 Associates

DATE RECORDED: July 08, 2020

P a g e 0 1 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 1: Location Map

Map 2: Site Map

P a g e 0 2 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 3: School Street /Park Terrace Historic District (listed in 1980) is outlined in yellow.

P a g e 0 3 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 4: Town of Essex Tax Map

11 Park Street Parcel

P a g e 0 4 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Photo 1: Looking northwest from Park Street, view shows area of building removal

Photo 2: Looking northwest from Park Street, view shows area of building removal

P a g e 0 5 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Photo 3: Looking southwest from Park Street, view shows area of building removal

Photo 4: Looking west up Park Terrace from Park Street, area of building removal at left

P a g e 0 6 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Photo 5: Looking southwest along Park Street from Five Corners, view shows area of building removal

in background

Photo 6: Looking east along Park Terrace from School Street, view shows Park Street and are of build-

ing removal in background

P a g e 0 7 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Photo 7: Looking southwest, view shows east and north elevations of 11 Park Street

Photo 8: Looking northwest, view shows south and east elevations of 11 Park Street

P a g e 0 8 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Photo 9: Looking southwest, view shows wider view of 11 Park Street site

Photo 10: Looking southwest, view shows pointed arch over gable window (removed by 2019), and

window hood over lower windows with sharks teeth valence (valence removed by 2019)

P a g e 0 9 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Photo 11: View shows aerial image of 11 Park Street with front L-plan and rear wing

Map 5: Essex VT, ca. 1763

P a g e 1 0 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 6: Wallings Map of Essex Junction, 1857 (named Painesville at the time)

Map 7: Beers Map of Essex Junction, 1869

P a g e 1 1 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 8: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1894 (source: Area Wide Assessment, Village of Essex Junction by Stone Environmental ,

July 2012)

P a g e 1 2 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 9: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1899 (source: Area Wide Assessment, Village of Essex Junction by Stone Environmental ,

July 2012)

P a g e 1 3 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 10: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1904 (source: Area Wide Assessment, Village of Essex Junction by Stone Environmental ,

July 2012)

P a g e 1 4 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 11: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1910 (source: Area Wide Assessment, Village of Essex Junction by Stone Environmen-

tal , July 2012)

P a g e 1 5 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 12: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1922 (source: Area Wide Assessment, Village of Essex Junction by Stone Environmen-

tal , July 2012)

P a g e 1 6 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 13: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1928 (source: Area Wide Assessment, Village of Essex Junction by Stone Environmental ,

July 2012)

P a g e 1 7 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 14: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1944 (source: Area Wide Assessment, Village of Essex Junction by Stone Environmen-

tal , July 2012)

P a g e 1 8 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 15: Sanborn Insurance Map, 1962 (source: Area Wide Assessment, Village of Essex Junction by Stone Environmental ,

July 2012)

P a g e 1 9 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 16: School Street / Park Terrace Historic District (State Register)

9

11

P a g e 2 0 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 17: 1939 Aerial view (source: UVM Landscape Change)

Map 18: 1962 Aerial view of Five Corners

P a g e 2 1 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 19: Aerial view, 2008

Photo 12: Looking northwest, view shows Peoples Bank at Five Corners, 2008

P a g e 2 2 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Photo 13: Looking southwest, view shows Peoples Bank at Five Corners, 2008

Photo 14: Looking west up Park Terrace from Park Street with 9 Park Street at left, 2011

P a g e 2 3 Determination of Eligibility

11 Park Street, Essex Junction, VT

Map 20: Aerial view ca. 2015, view shows construction of current development at Five Corners

Map 21: Aerial view ca. 2015, view shows completion of current development at Five Corners