St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-08-18
GREENSBORO: The
PLACE ITSELF

Inc GQlIOr Oh the CdleOOulau mas
asked me for a brief description OF
Greensboro, suspecting all the time,
no doubt, like a genuine skeptical
Vermonter, that nobody from Mas
sachusetts can do justice to anything
in Vermont He is quite right. One
must be raised in the Green Mountain
State, must have summered and
wintered there, like my friend Judge
Stafford, before he can be trusted to
interpret the spirit of the place. OF
Greensboro in particular it might be
said, as has been said so often OF
Boston, that it is not a place at all,
but a state of mind. Those of us
who have spent our summers here
for a score of years have mingled in
extricably the freedom and serenity
of our own vacation spirits with the
outward and tangible aspects of our
playground. We see it in the en-
chanting summer light, and with
something of the eyes of our own
children. We cannot pretend to
know it as if it were a lesson in
geography.
do not remember when the
township was settled, or how it got
its pleasant name, or who it was
who first ventured upon the absurd
ity of changing the simple old words,
Greensboro Pond" into the unholy
improperly of Caspian Lake"
There is, or used to be, a tattered
town history which makes this clear,
together with useful information
about altitude, acreage under Guilt
walton, schoolhouses, churches, Haz-
ems original survey, Mr.. .Miller's
stone house, the stockade. fort against
the Indians, and Cuthbertson's store.
But to me, Greensboro means none
of these things, but just something
high and green and soft, with the
CLEAN of water and the shadow or
fir-balsams, and a sky that changes
from moment to moment like beau
tiful woman. Once it was strangely
quiet in the summer days, but that
was before the advent of motor
cars, motor boats, victrolas, golf
tournaments and Sunday afternoon
"song services" 1t is quiet enough
still, if one will put on a pair of
heavy shoes and strike off across
country. Even the tortured surface
of the lake smooths itself out swift
ly and patiently and reveals all of
its ancient tranquility to the eyes Of
the very early or the very late fisher
man.
The six or seven miles of shore
have remained singularly unspoiled,
when one takes into account the
number of cottages and the wilful-
ness of human nature. The cottages
are usually hidden away in the
woods, and even the most assertive
of new boat houses will mellow in
a few years into relative inconspicu-
BUSINESS. Above the balsams, birches
- fri
rise the high, green, soft pastures,
the dark firmness of rock naples,
and then the caressing sky. Seen
from the middle of the lake the
landmarks are Jackson's sugar bush
to the south, Sunset Hill to the
west, Mt. Sarah to the north, with
Sharp's pasture and Barr Hill, and
then to the east the long slopes of
Wheelock Mountain. Barr Hill gives
one the best general view of the sur
rounding country. The Presidential
Range, and part of the Franconian,
lie dimly on the east. Groton Peak
and Cancels Hump are clearly Wis
ible in the south, and yet Mt. Mans
field, with it's marvellous lines, in
sists upon being the center of the pic
ture. North of Mansfield, in the very
last gallant lift of the Green Noun
tains before they lose themselves in
the st. Lawrence valley, are Sterling
and the cone of Belvidere, and fur
Their still, the exquisite wave-like
outline of Jay Peak, on the border
of Canada. There are higher view
points than Barr Hill, such as Blod-
gett's Pasture, on the crest of the
long mountain to the east, but none
that are so satisfying under all con-
ditions of light and at every hour
of the day.
But | am illustrating unconscious
ly what an editor Of the New York
Sun once declared to be the chief
characteristic of Greensboro camp
ers; They all keep talking to you
about Barr HILL" 1 will, therefore, |
drop the subject, since view-hunting |
is only one of the many possible oc-
equations of the contented camper.
Fishing has gone on uninterrupt- |
eddy, in season-and sometimes out |
of season-since the first temporary |
campers came here from Montpelier, |
more than forty years ago. The lake
once swarmed with "square-tails."
believe it on the authority of Levi !
Smith, who used to rent boats by the |
village dock and lend me his dog |
for rabbit shooting. But the square |
tails" have gone. Instead there are |
"steel-head" or rainbow trout. There |
are seventeen brooks within four
miles of the village, without count
ing the Lamoille River, but having
faithfully fished all of them, 1 must
admit that the brook-fishing is poor
and is steadily growing poorer. But
that is no reasonable excuse for not
going fishing.
The Mountain View Country club
has a nine-hole course, commanding
one of the finest landscapes in New
England, and affording a greater
variety of Lies" than all other New
England courses put together. Some
campers prefer to play tennis, or to
go canoeing or swim ming. Some
hunt ferns, to find as many as pos
sibIe of the 60 local varieties. There
are nearly as many varieties of
e0lDle mushrooms, but they are IN
hunted. Some campers play bridge