Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-10-14
BELLOWS FALLS HISTORY.
Some Local Events
As Remembered by Capt. TayIor---the
Freshet I'm Is30--- Early Industries
---FIrst Fire Company Something
About the NeWspapers.

FFoahet IN hSbb --- Early tnuustr1es
---FIrst Fire Company Something
About the Newspaper.
Reprinted from The Evening Phoenix
Captain Walter TAYLOR Of Bartonsville.
who was for so many wears closely denti-
fed with the business and citizenship of
Bellows Falls became somewhat reminis-
ceut, during a recent visit to the village,
making some statements relating 70 the
earlier history OF Bellows Falls that are
Of interest TO the present generation. He
said, among other things:
came TO Bellows Falls in November Of
1885 from keene. y H, and my knowl-
edge of matters here dates from then
In the spring of 1889, when the ice
broke up In the river, it took away the old
Cheshire bridge above Charlestown. One
Of the beuts Of it came down the river
whole James Milhken, who lived this
side of the bridge. jumped on his horse :
bare back and cAme here as fast a. de
could 70 tell Mr. Tucker. who owned the
toll bridge here, aud others, fearing the
toll bridge would be taken by the bent
striking 1t. ! was with large number Of
other men near the upper end Of the canal
watching the ice going by when the bridge
came in sight.
There was no bridge then across the
canal ,xcept where the stone arch bridge
now is ami a number OF Us " no wanted to
see 1t 70 over the falls jumped across the
canal on the floating cakes OF zee. getting
to the bridge III time TO see Mr.. Tucker at
the other end Of the bridge gesticuating
wildly as il irving To convince the ruined
bridge 1t better 60 under his bridge by the
west channel, as if it went under by the
east channel il would take AWAY his struc
ture As the floating bridge reached the
place where the two channels divide it
suddenly all went to pieces, flatteniug out
so it passed under without damaging the
bridge above, and the most Of it went by
the east passage any way. 1t was a fine
sight one | shall always remember wildly.
At this time there were but three build
ings on the island, the toll house, Judge
Baxter's house, and large boarding house,
which was built IN 1896 at the time when
the work upon the foundation for the large
cotton mill was being put in near where the
John Robertson paper mill now is. The
boarding house was later changed into a
hotel and called the Valley House, after
the name of the Valley railroad This
change was made after the first Island
House was burned The first Island House
was made ont of the old Judge Baxter
house remodelled and raised TO three stories
high with two wings added This was
never occupied, IT being burned just as it
was about ready for occupancy.
The foundation referred to above. was
on put IN in 1886 by large company for
a cotton factory. Ii was POO feet long 1t
was substantially built the walls up 70 the
first story and the floor timbers being laid
when the panic of 1887 came on, and the
company failed, The site went back to its
original owners. 1t stood in this unfinished
condition until about 1873 when the site
was used for paper mills, but many of the
present generation remember seeing 1t and
wondering as to its history.
The first fire company in Bellows Falls
was organized in 1897 with l6 members
They We're paid annually for their services
with a supper during the month of Decem-
Der at some convenient place. A hydraulic
fire machine was bought in Windsor 1t
worked So hard that one set of men could
work it only very few minutes at time,
but it saved great deal of property In
1916, when the paper mill of Green q
Fleming burned, it saved the grist mill and
other buildings near. a few years later
the Mansion House burned, hotel which
stood where the Chase Furniture company S
store now is, and a wooden building
standing only eight or nine feet north was
saved, while on the south was long horse
shed with a public hall over it. 1t was
saved although connected with the burned
building and with the barn. Now it is
somewhat different with the large pipe and
supply from Minard's pond, the steamer,
hand engine, force pumps of the mills,
hose companies and all the modern fire
fighting appliances.
The statement recently published in the
Times to the effect that when the canal
and dam were built here in 1891 the indus
tries of the village comprised a grist mill,
saw mill, machine shop foundry and furn-
iture shop, must have been entirely with
out foundation, as without the dam and ca
nal there was no power available here for
any purpose. had always understood
that at the time the canal was built Bel
lows Falls was little hamlet of perhaps a
half dozen dwellings occupied only by a
few families who subsisted upon the fisher
les, for which the place was noted, and by
assisting in the transporting of freight, by
team, by the falls, the boats running from
the north and south, but being unable to
pass here.
In the same article reference was made
to the different newspapers here which had
preceded the Times, and it did not record
all of them. At the time l came here John
w. Moore came here from Concord, n. H.,
and bought the Bellows Falls Intelli-
gencer," paper which was started in
1917 by Thomas Green Fessenden, lawyer
of much renown and son of Rev. Thomas
tessenden, who was settled in Walpole as
the town minister in 1867. This paper was
continued by Fessenden until 1899, from
which time it was called the "Chronicle"
and edited by E. G. Tracy, and later by