St. Johnsbury

Book excerpt: St. Johnsbury, known to many as the transportation center of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, has a history as fascinating as it is long. Come explore this dynamic past: learn about the St. Johnsbury Trucking Company and the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum; meet the Fairbanks family, who made many significant cultural contributions to the area; and see the many architectural gems from the Victorian period on Main Street, as well as the birthplace of Dr. Bob, who co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous. Most of the images that have been selected for this fascinating visual history are rare and previously unpublished, but many of them--although they may have seemed commonplace when originally taken--give us a tremendous insight into the way life was lived in the last century. As well as giving us an understanding of the important themes in St. Johnsbury's rich history, this book also shares a more intimate past by preserving scenes of ordinary folk at work and at play; of education and enterprise; and of celebrations and disasters. What shines throughout these photographs, whether they show the opulence of the Fairbanks' home or some of St. Johnsbury's young men marching off to war, is the fine Yankee spirit characteristic of the people of St. Johnsbury which can be recognized in the town's citizens even today.