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No 18th century structures remain in the Town of Cabot. There are no log cabins of the Websters, Lyfords, Heaths, or other first settlers. Along the Bayley-Hazen Military Road are stone foundations, overgrown with trees and brush, where early settlers eked out a living. Cellar holes and indentations show where early farms stood.
One site was the Yellow House tavern. A small granite marker and uneven ground mark the site. It was the first frame house in Cabot, with attached barns and stables.
There is a similar marker, in the same field, where Cabot Plains Road meets Bayley-Hazen Road. It remembers the first schoolhouse. The marker probably belongs across the road, in a small grove of trees. Sometime in the 1920s or 30s, a road crew widened the road. They moved the marker to what was then Hartwell Stone's field, more recently part of Spaulding Farm.
There is a third marker on old Bayley-Hazen road, about two-thirds of the way between Cabot Plains Road and Route 215. This is where Benjamin Webster cleared land and built his cabin. Webster was the first settler. Lieut. Jonathan Heath and his family came next, then Nathaniel Webster and Lieut. Thomas Lyford. All four cleared land on Cabot Plains. They organized town government, holding the first meetings in early 1788. Vermont Historical Magazine wrote there were probably fewer than 10 or 12 citizens at those meetings. Many were former soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Cabot government was on the Plains for about 18 years. Then town government moved to the geographic Center of Town, just south of today's Danville Hill Road. Only faint indications of building foundations remain in the Center. The old Center Cemetery and site of the stray animal pound and whipping post are just off Center Road, a one-lane, unpaved road.
By 1849, many businesses and town government moved about a mile downhill, alongside the Winooski River. It became the (upper) Village of Cabot, now the town's focal point of commerce and government.
As the town grew, more substantial buildings sprang up. There were sawmills along the river, making lumber easier to get. Transporting goods became easier, as roads improved.
There are many examples of 19th century architecture in Cabot Village and Lower Cabot Historic Districts. (See the link to the lengthy 1979 survey near the foot of this page.) Noteworthy are:
The "Wiswell-Wells-Coyle" house (1886-1889) in Cabot Village, was lovingly cared for by family. It is now owned by fifth generation Wiswell descendants. It is a fine example of Victorian architecture and interior decoration. Wiswell House WISWELL MANSION
The "Judge Lamson" home on Elm Street, is a stately and well
situated home of 1869. (pictured at left) It has had many owners, but is little changed. It has a sweeping lawn with well-kept barns and carriage houses. "1889 - J. P. Lamson, the present lawyer of the town; took his academical course at Johnson, Vt.; read law with the late Hon. Thomas Gleed, of Morrisville; came to this town, and commenced practice August, 1860, during which time he has built up a large pracÂtice, and is one of the leading attorneys."
The True A. Town home (1875-1878), in Lower Cabot had several owners, but retains its classic and regionally rare "Carpenter Gothic" Victorian style. It was owned by Leonard Spencer, a house painter, who specialized in authentic Victorian colors and design. True Town House
Cabot still has several former schoolhouses. Several are private residences; two are owned by Cabot Historical Society.
Lower Cabot Schoolhouse, now a home, was built in 1880. The building was altered to include a kitchen, library and theater. It was the center of the Lower Cabot community. When it was built with a bell tower, some objected to the noise. The bell disappeared. Many years later, it was discovered in a nearby mill pond and returned to the tower. The exterior is little changed, but the interior is now a home.
West Hill Schoolhouse was built around 1896. This one-room schoolhouse is owned by Cabot Historical Society. It was restored with authentic furnishings. It is open to the public by appointment. It is used as a learning center for Cabot and other schools. West Hill Schoolhouse restoration.
Walbridge Schoolhouse was moved from its original location on Walden Heights Road, now Route 215, to Cabot Plains. The interior was renovated as a vacation home, but the outside appearance was preserved.
The first Village School was built in 1845, on land now behind the United Church of Cabot. The building had several uses. After use as a school, it was a tenement. Then it became the meeting hall of the Independent Order of Good Templars. The I.O.G.T. made a paneled auditorium and stage upstairs, and a kitchen, cloakroom, and dining hall downstairs. The Women's Relief Corps and the Modern Woodmen also met there. It was then sold and converted to a plumbing shop. It is now Cabot Historical Society's Main Street Museum. It was refurbished as a meeting hall and museum, with a restored stage curtain upstairs. The unheated building in closed from November to May. Old Village School
Cabot Common, the village green, has a granite obelisk to remember Union soldiers with Cabot roots who died in the Civil War. A small Liberty Tree marker, memorializing the American Revolution, is nearby. Cabot soldiers served in the American Revolution, the Civil War and later conflicts (see veterans' pages).
The United Church of Cabot was originally organized as the Congregational Church in 1801, at the Center of Town. In 1806, a building was erected. It was taken down in 1826 and rebuilt at the northeast corner of the village common. A few years later, it was moved to the present location, the northwest corner of Cabot Common. The lower story, including a kitchen and dining/meeting room, was added. It remains in use. A 2017 legal case involved town support for the building.(Photo by Will Walters.)
About 1895, Mary Josephine Lance left the Methodist Church $1,000 to buy a pipe organ. She was engaged to Captain Edwin Morrill, killed in Civil War, for whom the Grand Army of the Republic Post in Cabot was named. Cabot men told Miss Lance of his death on May 6, 1864; she was never seen in public after that. She died in the large white "Lance House," behind the former gristmill dam. (Formerly, the site of Lieutenant Thomas Lyford's first house in Cabot village.) The Methodist Church built an organ loft behind the pulpit and rebuilt that end of the church. The organ was dedicated in the winter of 1896-7. Professor David S. Blampied, head of the Music Department, at Montpelier Seminary, came, with Miss Johnson, instructor in vocal music there, and one or two of her pupils. When the two churches united in 1928, the organ went to the Congregational Church, replacing a small pipe organ. The small organ was sold to the Methodist Church in Plainfield, VT. A picture of Miss Lance hangs in the gallery of the United Church. Cabot church organ
The Methodist Church's main building was erected about 1823. In 1854, a donated barn was added to the building. By 1896, the congregation raised money for an organ and interior improvements. This building is at the southeast corner of the village common. The two congregations struggled with dwindling membership. In 1927, they began holding summer services in the Methodist church building and winter services in the Congregational building. The congregations merged in 1935, to become Cabot United Church. They worshiped at the Congregational building. The Methodist building was turned into a school gymnasium, and later, additional classrooms. After the town voted to build a new gymnasium and classrooms at the school, the space at the old church was no longer needed. The building was sold. It briefly became a theater and living space for the owner. It is privately owned.
Willey Memorial Hall, was built in 1921, the money being raised by the Judith Lyford Woman's Club. Mr. C.W. Willey gave matching funds. The lumber was cut and milled in Cabot. The hall has a large auditorium on the top floor. The second floor houses the Cabot Public Library and has meeting rooms, a kitchen, and dining room. In 1974, the Judith Lyford Woman's Club gave the building to the Town of Cabot. There were extensive renovations in 1996, opening the basement space for more town office space and a walk-in vault. Upstairs, the auditorium remains much the same, and there is an elevator to the second and third floors.
1979 Cabot Vermont Historic Survey large file; loads slowly
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