North Bennington Walking Tour, 37 - 42a

Bank St. was laid out in 1851 to go to White Creek. It wasn’t Bank St. until the bank was built in 1865. The 3 Greek Revival houses (#37-39) are excellent examples of the style.

The Colvin family farmed the land on this road. They also owned mills.

#37 - Sidney Colvin House, 1855. This house was set back from the road to create a setting, much as was the Robinson House on Prospect Street. Popular authors at the time recommended withdrawing one’s

house from the road to reinforce the Jeffersonian ideal of each family being self-sufficient

.

#38 - Charles Colvin House – Wood could be planed by steam powered machinery in 1835. Wide smooth boards were easy to mill, and readily available. These columns and frieze boards are the result. This house sits close to the street, urban compared to #37.

#39 - built by E. Safford. These cottages (with a central unit and side wing) have corners that look like colum

ns. They were inspired by ‘pattern books’, books showing plans and drawings. Many houses like this were built in upstate New York.

#40 - Originally this was a single family house, built c.1820, with simple trim, no frills, and a center entrance. It is larger than the simple mill houses on West and Sage St. The porch is later.

#41 – G. Robertson House, The Greek Revival house once boasted a frieze and corner pilasters, now hidden by vinyl siding. The Italianate porch is later.

#42 – Elwell House, 1851, Italianate, is very similar in shape and detail to the PL Robinson House on Prospect Street. However, it is not set back but sits directly on the street. One looks up at it and the feeling quite different. Its shape is similar to #41, , but its trim is light and airy, not solid.

#43 - Once the barn for the Elwell House, this building was moved in 1917-18 and remodeled to become a Masonic Temple. Note the similar verge boards at the eaves. Barns have cupolas (the tower at the top) to vent the hay stored inside, because hay heats up and can easily catch fire.

Where the roads met was a square bordered by the post office, 2 stores, an apothecary, a cabinet shop and – where the gas station is today - The Paran Creek House, a 3 story hotel with a broad veranda.

Behind that was a carpenter shop.

SB Loomis owned the hotel. He lived next door and also owned, with WE Hawkes, one of the stores in Lincoln Square.