Shelburne Museum

Just a few miles south of Burlington, Vermont is an unexpected place called the Shelburne Museum. Founded in 1947 by a spirited (and arguably eccentric) heiress named Electra Havemeyer Webb, the “museum” is really a large 45-acre campus with nearly 40 buildings that house her “collection of collections.” The website calls it “beautiful, fascinating, and whimsical,” which I think describes it perfectly. I would also call it unique, approachable, and a little quirky (I love quirky).

We drove up on a Sunday with weather that couldn’t seem to make up its mind. Sunshine, clouds, and sprinkles of rain rotated haphazardly throughout the day. The one constant was cool temperatures, 55-60℉, which we hoped would persuade the trees to change their colors sooner rather than later. Fortunately, we stayed dry while walking around the extensive grounds of the museum.

The star of the show was the Ticonderoga, a paddle wheel passenger steamboat that had operated on Lake Champlain from 1906 to 1953. There it was, all 220 feet of it, sitting high and dry on the grass! The Ticonderoga’s interior had been restored, and we explored three of the four decks. It was fun to imagine being a passenger in 1923, strolling the elegantly carpeted Saloon Deck, and enjoying meals served on fine china in the dining room. The most amazing thing about Ticonderoga was the way it was moved from Lake Champlain to the museum grounds. From a video onboard, we learned that the 900-ton boat was moved via a custom railroad carriage, pulled (very slowly) by trucks on specially laid tracks. It was done in the the dead of winter so that the ground would be frozen solid, and it was so cold that fires had to be lit under the carriage to keep the oil that greased the wheels from freezing. The two mile journey took three months. It was an engineering feat that boggles the mind.

Ticonderoga

Control Room

Model showing the walking beam engine in motion

Promenade Deck - Dining Room

Lower Deck - Kitchen

Lower Deck - Fireboxes

The fireboxes burned two tons of coal per hour, providing 1500 horsepower for the walking beam engine. Ticonderoga's top speed was 23 miles per hour.

Lower Deck - Crew quarters in the forecastle

Saloon Deck - Forward Promenade

Saloon Deck - Stateroom Hall

Saloon Deck - Stateroom #10

This was the largest and most expensive stateroom, at $3.00 per night. Travelers could rent a stateroom while the Ticonderoga was docked, and avoid having to wake up for the 6:00am departure.

After Ticonderoga, we explored the rest of the grounds and the motley assortment of buildings. Many of them - houses, barns, even a lighthouse - had been moved there from other parts of New England, and had their own historical significance. A few buildings were constructed specifically to house Electra Webb’s collections. The buildings were widely spaced, connected by winding gravel pathways. There were cultivated gardens, an impressive covered bridge, towering apple trees, and expansive green lawns. It was a lovely place for walking.

Round Barn

1901 | Fred Quimby | East Passumpsic, Vermont

Designed for labor-saving efficiency. Hay dropped from the top floor through feed chutes to the middle level, where up to sixty cows could be stanchioned around the center for feeding and milking. Manure was shoveled through trap doors to the lower level and collected by horse-drawn wagons.

Colchester Reef Lighthouse

1871 | Albert Dow | Lake Champlain

The lighthouse was positioned a full mile from shore, to safeguard southbound ships from perilous reefs. It served for over 60 years and was decommissioned in 1933.

Prentis House

1773 | Hadley, Massachusetts

Saltbox home constructed around a massive beehive-shaped central chimney with seven flues.

Stencil House

ca. 1804 | Columbus, New York

Side-gabled house with four rooms around a central chimney.

1840 | Shelburne, Vermont

For many years, this building served as the Shelburne village post office. It was moved to the museum intact on a specially designed railroad track.

Meeting House

1840 | Charlotte, Vermont

Built by the Methodist congregation, this building with Greek design influences served as a church, a theatrical playhouse, and a library.

Horseshoe Barn

Built on the museum grounds in 1949, modeled after a horseshoe-shaped dairy barn in Georgia, Vermont.

Settler's House and Barn

ca. 1846 in the style of 1790's | East Charlotte, Vermont

Bostwick Garden

Covered Bridge

1845 | Cambridge, Vermont

This 168-foot-long bridge with its rare exterior walkway once spanned the Lamoille River.

Each building housed a special collection or exhibit. The barns displayed a fascinating array of horse-drawn vehicles.

Hearse, ca. 1849

A. Tolman & Co. (Worcester, MA)

This hearse with interchangeable wheels and sleigh runners enabled the morticians in Bakersfield, Vermont to discharge their duties year round.

Buxton's Cure-All Wagon, ca. 1900

David Horace Buxton, a druggist and general-store owner in Abbot, Maine, suffered greatly from rheumatism. His Cure-All claimed to relieve virtually any ailment known to exist. From 1894 until the 1930s, Buxton's Cure-All was a phenomenal success.

Omnibus, ca. 1865

The omnibus was a public vehicle designed to carry 12 to 14 passengers. This was designed by John Stephenson, the country's leading designer of omnibuses. It was used by the Stevens House, a resort hotel in Vergennes, Vermont, to transport guests from the railroad station to the hotel.

Stage Sleigh, ca. 1800

The stage sleigh provided public transportation when snow made it difficult to pull a stagecoach. This stage sleigh was used for almost 100 years to carry passengers between Worcester and Lowell, Massachusetts.

Concord Coach, 1852

Lewis Downing and J. Stephen Abbot revolutionized coach design by setting the body on two wide leather thorough braces running front to rear. This unique suspension gave the coach a gentle, swaying motion, which was a great improvement over conventional steel suspension.

Conestoga Wagon, ca. 1837

This is one of the few remaining authentic Conestoga wagons in existence. The curved bottom kept heavy loads centered and prevented them from shifting on rough roads. A single wagon could hold up to five tons. These heavy loads were pulled by massive draft horses called Conestogas, which were bred in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

It was fun to discover what each house had in store. One was a gallery of 19th-century paintings by prominent American artists; another held an exhibit of felted wool landscapes by a contemporary Canadian fiber artist. We saw collections of hatboxes, quilts, miniature dolls, glass canes, iron trivets, pewter vessels, and transferware china.

Family Cares, 1873

Eastman Johnson (American)

A little girl plays quietly with her dolls. A closer look reveals broken toys strewn on the floor. Is the girl responsible for the mess at her feet? Or is she working to mend the broken dollies?

Contemporary Transferware by Paul Scott (British)

I’m sure we saw just a fraction of the objects the museum had on display. It was easy to appreciate why one admission was good for two days. For anyone interested in 18th and 19th century American art and history, especially in New England, the Shelburne Museum offers a rich, diverse, and one-of-a-kind experience.

Admission to the Shelburne Museum is free with the appropriate level of membership in a NARM institution.