Walking Tour

Walking Tour. Historic White River Junction. , Welcome to Historic White River Junction, one of five villages which comprise the Town of Hartford, and an area considered by many as "The Gateway to Vermont"., Although the Town was chartered in 1761, White River Junction did not begin to develop until 1849 with the coming of America's newest means of transportation, the railroad. This village, more than any other, took its breath from the steam engines which rolled through it, and drew its sustenance from the necessity and convenience the rails presented., In just twenty years, the village became a major commercial and transportation center. Railroad cars, filled with wholesale products from meat to paper, were off-loaded right at the warehouse door and then distributed to local and distant markets., By 1903, White River Junction was bustling, hosting travelers riding the fifty trains which pass through it daily, and supporting over thirteen wholesale businesses. The village enjoyed this vitality for over a century., The original configuration of White River Junction remains much the same today as in its heyday, and includes many buildings representative of the nineteenth and twentieth century architectural trends., See the panel to your left for highlights of each site on the Historic White River Junction Walking Tour., Walking Tour Sites , 1. Hotel Coolidge , 2. Old Courthouse and Post Office , 3. Old Cross Abbott , 4. Old Bank Building , 5. Site of Watering Trough , 6. Old Colodny Building, Surprise Department Store , 7. Site of Crown Theater , 8. Old Swift and Company Meat Company , 9. Old Progressive Market , 10. Old Greenough Block , 11. Miller Auto , 12. Old Telephone Company , 13. Site of the Smith Block , 14. Old White River Paper, Greydon Freeman , 15. Old Gates Library , 16. Old Fire House , 17. Site of the Interstate Tire , 18. Site of Twin State Fruit , 19. Engine 494 , 20. Railroad Station , 21. Polka Dot Dinner , 22. The Gates Block , 23. Tip Top Building