Title: The Beginning of the Vermont Marble Industry in the Town of Middlebury

Presenter: Glenn M. Andres, PhD, Prof. Emeritus, Middlebury College

In the first decades of the 19th century, the Middlebury marble works laid the groundwork for the Vermont marble industry. Capitalizing on local deposits, abundant waterpower and engineering ingenuity, they pioneered in the mechanical production of marble architectural components in white marble—once equated with that of Carrara—and what was reputed to be the first pure black marble in the United States. Their products, sought by major architects, shipped as distantly as to Montreal, London and Savannah, and marketed through outlets in Boston and New York, can be identified on the basis of extant Middlebury examples.

Glenn Andres taught architectural history at Middlebury College from 1970-2015 and served thirty years on the Vermont Advisory Council for Historic Preservation. He is the author of A Walking History of Middlebury, co-author with Curtis Johnson of The Buildings of Vermont for the Society of Architectural Historians, and has published on the history of the Middlebury marble industry through the Vermont Historical Society and Historic New England.

In the first decades of the 19th century, the Middlebury marble works laid the groundwork for the Vermont marble industry. Capitalizing on local deposits, abundant waterpower, and engineering ingenuity, they pioneered in the mechanical production of marble architectural components in white marble—once equated with that of Carrara—and what was reputed to be the first pure black marble in the United States. Their products, sought by major architects, shipped as distantly as to Montreal, London, and Savannah, and marketed through outlets in Boston and New York, can be identified on the basis of extant Middlebury examples.

Learning Objectives:
1. Become familiar with the roots of the Vermont marble industry.
2. Become familiar with the early mechanical production of marble architectural components.
3. Explore the extent of early 19th century marketing and shipping of marble architectural details.
4. Identify the potential source of historic marble details dispersed throughout the northeastern United States.

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