Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1920-10-08
FAMOUS OLD TAVERN
DESTROYED BY FIRE
PartCh House in New Haven Razed
by Flames Tuesday

Men, women and children, every in
habitant of New Haven able to leave
their homes, fought for two hours
against the blaze that destroyed the
Old Partch House Tuesday forenoon.
The entire main building of what was
once one of the famous taverns If the
days of the stage coach was burned
to the ground. 1t had been built Of
brick, with two large wooden els. l he
loss was estimated at between $4,000
and $4,000 Less than oue-iifth Of
$4,000 to be exact. The furniture Of
the ground floor was removed but al
most all the effects on the second
story were consumed This particular
loss is covered by S1l00 insurance
At l0.30 o'clock the children at the
Beeman Academy noticed smoke pour
ing from an upper window IN the
western annex. The alarm was i'm
medately given and answered by the
entire population of the town The
high school students were formed into
one bucket brigade while women and
men Joined in several others The
pumps and wells in the vicinity were
the starting points for the several
water-pail streams that Immediately
attacked the blaze The furniture
from the first floor had been removed
before the progress of the fire had pre-
vented further work by the salvagers
When the doom of the house appeared
certainty the efforts of the fire
fighters were directed to the safety of
the town hall across the. street and the
barns and dwellings in the vicinity.
The human lires OF hose with their
endless chain of buckets, after two or
three hours of fierce battle, conquered
in their effort to confine the devouring
flames to the Partch house At noon
the whole of the former hotel, with its
ellis and spacious piaZzas, was in ruins
For hours afterwards the Sm1ul erIn5
embers were menace an account Of
the wind, but enough of the volunteer
fire department remained to guard
and subdue again if necessary the II Try
prisoner who had so often in thc pre-
vious doubtful hours threatened TO
escape them and plunge the nelgnnor
hood and town perhaps INTO similar
ruin
The fire departments of tn two
communities Of nistGl
and Nergennes were asked to come to
the aid of the New Haven force I he
in the former place object
ed to the endangering their own me,
By dispatching beyond the town their
Little fire fighting apparatus Nergennas
sent one chemical that arrived too
late to assist in the early concentration
against the hotel but aided materially
in the restriction of the conhagration
to the single building No other de
partments were asked to add their a,
sistance.
Fred NJ Partch, son of the founder
of the hotel and present owner, is
salesman for the Carroll 5 |
Page Phosphate Company of HYDE |
Park and had left that morning for !
Rutland. He could not be located to
be told the news of the destruction OF /
his home until the following day. He
returned Wednesday afternoon.
The house was a century old and /
had been the scene of many social
in the days of the stage /
coach Its bar was famous, as well
as the ballroom which was later con
verted into a roller skating rink. Situa-
ted as it was midway between Burling-
ton and Rutland it was well patron
zed i'll pre-railway times as a home |
Of especially good cheer.
For several years the farm has been
ct. The present tenant is Victor
Shackett whose occupancy did not be
,in until last March. He occupied
he west side of the house, the same
cart from which the blaze is thought
o have originated at least the smoke
vas first discovered there.