Historic Burlington Project, Burlington, Vermont, South of Pearl Street photographs from 1930s 1940s

On December 1, 1939, the city of Burlington purchased two new snowplow tractor vehicles to replace its horse-drawn units. In this image, published in the city’s 1940 Annual Report, a city worker clears snow along Hungerford Avenue with an Allis-Chambers, Model IB tractor equipped with a Baker “V” type sidewalk plow. Eight inches of snow combined with rain had, according to George C. Stanley, Superintendent of Streets, “made the plowing very heavy and difficult for horse-drawn equipment, but this unit did not experience any difficulties”.[1] In June, following the success of these new tractors and plows, Mr. Stanley recommended that the city invest in two or more of the similar machines. He noted that the purchase “would allow us to dispose of our remaining four horses which are costing us too much for the comparatively few jobs we can efficiently use horse-drawn equipment [sic.] today.”[2] In this image, the plow is progressing south on Hungerford Terrace’s western sidewalk, very close to the intersection with College Street.

In the background of the above photograph, taken on May 5, 1940, Louis McAllister captures Hungerford Terrace’s southernmost houses, with numbers 87, 83, and 71 (from left to right) most visible. The most prominent is #87, built in 1920 for music teacher Alfred Larsen, who ran his Larsen Violin School out of his home. Larsen moved into the house in 1921 and was still in residence and running his school in 1940, the year Louis McAllister took this photograph.

Sanborn Maps indicate that an addition was made to the building between 1938 and 1942.[3] The McAllister photograph suggests that this actually happened before 1940, because the changes, including a projecting bay and roofs protecting the rear and side entrances, are visible in his image.

The oldest of the three is the central building in the photograph, 83 Hungerford Terrace, whose white two-story front porch is visible above the plow driver. The building was built circa 1896 by Frederick Prunier, a local nurse who moved in with his family in 1897, according to the city directory. In 1899, Prunier was “removed to New York city”[4], but Mrs. Melvina O. Prunier remained a resident until 1902, at which time the directory lists the Prunier house and a vacant building as the only addresses on Hungerford Terrace. Between 1906 and 1912, Sanborn Maps indicate that the house was relocated to a new site, #83, very near its original plot. The house had to be moved to make way for Bradley Road, which was cut right through the property. In, 1940, the time the above image was captured, Robert F. Dalton of the Vermont Flue Oil Company lived in the house.

The third house was built in the years between the other two. The 1912 Sanborn shows only one house on the block, #71, but on the 1919 map a new house has been constructed on the corner of Bradley and Hungerford. The City Directory shows #71 for the first time in 1915, along with several other houses on the street, listing resident Stillman M. Atherton, Superintendent of Baldwin Refrigerator Company. The following year, the directory also lists E. L. Gillette at this address. In 1940 Gillette, now Vice President and Treasurer of the T. S. Peck Insurance Agency, was still living at 83 Hungerford.

[1] Burlington City Annual Report, 1940, p. 176.
[2] Burlington City Annual Report, 1940, p. 176-7
[3] Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Burlington, VT, 1938, 1942.
[4] Burlington City Directory, 1899 (Burlington: Hiram S. Hart)