Overnight Accommodations

by Zoe

1700-1775 - The Early Years

The Lay of the Law of the Land

Hotels have been a part of Richmond's rich culture and history for hundreds of years, but they have gone by many different names. If you were a traveler in the 1770's, the word hotel would be foreign, and asking where the nearest tavern was would make more sense. Buildings where you can sleep overnight for a fee have been known as inns, public houses, Bed and Breakfasts, Hotels, Taverns, Tourist Homes, Guest Homes, and the infamous Motel.¹

The First Hotel Law

Richmond hotels may have been around since the early 1700s, but they weren't mandatory until 1787. In 1787, the town clerks of Chittenden county got together. Vermont's population was growing, and Richmond was chugging along with it. More people wanted nice big homes, close to the lake, but not far from a town, with room to farm, raise cattle or live in a close-knit community. The town clerks decided that each town had to have at least one public house, where weary travelers could hang their hats for a quick stop, and families touring the countryside could stay for a while.

1775-1825

Follow-Up Laws

Follow-Up Laws

1787 was a very big year for Richmond hotels. Almost all of the longstanding laws were made within a 12 month period, so obviously there was a little bit of doubling back and re thinking. A few weeks after the overnight accommodations law was passed, there was another meeting of the clerks. Rich owners were demanding outrageous expenses for one night in a shoddy, cramped room below a loud pub. Another 1787 law was passed, stating that no owner would be allowed to charge more than 10 pounds per night, the equivalent of 12 U.S. dollars. Not all hotels charged this rate, just some.

Also in 1787, a highly controversial law emerged. Richmond was now booming in business, with carriages coming in and out at all hours of the day. Highly important messengers with news about international affairs, (like the growing turmoil in France) would disturb communities with news. The town clerks, and possibly the mayors of nearby towns, decided that travel on Sunday could be seen as work, and banned it so that the Lord's day was fully respected. ¹

It was, admittedly, quite an ambitious plan. But banning hundreds, or maybe even thousands of people from moving for a full 24 hours just wasn't sensible. And no one felt good punishing innocent people who just wanted to travel. After three and a half years of enforcing this strict law, the people complained enough that it was changed. Starting in 1791, you could travel on Sunday, but you must have a signed permission slip from your town's Justice of the Peace. Getting this pass would require the traveler to go to this office, maybe all the way across the town at least the day before Sunday. Therefore, lots of people tried to sneak out without a pass. The punishment for being caught doing this was either paying a fine, or being locked in the stockades for a maximum of two hours. Hotels were a big part of this problem, because you could check in one evening and leave the next day. The sheer amount of hotels or taverns in Richmond made it very easy to travel at any time, and you could be virtually untraceable.¹

1825-1875

Different Establishments

The Farnsworth Tavern

Built in 1786, this was one of the longest lasting taverns that was built before the railroads were installed. William Freeman came to Richmond in 1844 and bought the tavern, and he lived there until June 11, 1891, when it burned down. The tavern was operated as a hotel for about 60 years, and stood for over 100 years. It had a reputation for being a good, sturdy building with a reliable owner. Benjamin Farnsworth bought this land in 1844. Before him it was owned by Jabez Jones, a settler who bought the 200 acres of land in the early 1800s/late 1700s that the tavern was eventually built on. It was originally called the Tavern Inn. Before Jabez Jones, Ira Allen, Brother of Ethan Allen, owned the land.¹

Engraving of Ira Allen

Picture Courtesy of Vermont Historical Society

The Richmond Victorian Inn

On 191 East Main Street sits the Richmond Victorian inn which operates as a bed and breakfast. The Victorian Inn has five occupiable rooms that are filled with antiques from the 1850's. The Inn was built in the 1850's in the Queen Ann Victorian Style that was popular for rich city folks. It was originally built for an unnamed private family, and wasn't turned into an inn until the early 2000's.²

1875 - 1925

Bellevue and Park Hotel and the 1908 Fire

The Park House built in 1902 was a grand hotel, the second largest in Richmond. It's looks were very extravagant, and it seemed luxurious, outside and in.

Park Hotel. The man far left was the proprietor and owner, Mr. Mcgarghan, and his daughter Kathleen is sitting on the bench next to his dog.

Park House

Today, at 22 Depot Street sits Gifford Funeral Parlor, a small rectangular brick building, noticed for it's green awnings and large windows. It's hard to imagine that this little box was, at one point, the most popular hotel in Richmond. Park Hotel was the busiest hotel in Richmond, because of it's proximity to the railroad. Weary travelers could hop off the train, and in less than a minute, be inside a warm building. Gifford Funeral Parlor is very small right now, but when it was in operation as the Park Hotel, they expanded it 3 times, nearly tripling it's size. The back walls were pushed out to make it longer, floors were added to make it much taller, it was widened, and a beautiful balcony with intricate arches was added to the second and third floors. If it was a nice day out, mothers and fathers could sit for tea on the balcony, while children played in the park below. Where the dentist's office and parking lot is now, there used to be a big, tree filled park.

Park Hotel was built in 1902, and was enlarged in 1908. The owner was John McGarghan, who had a daughter named Kathleen. They installed the ramp and metal pipe to hold onto for walking that is still there today, on Depot Street.

On April 23, 1908, a fire started in the basement of the masonic building. Park Hotel, being only a building away, quickly went up in flames. No one was killed, but some were injured. Due to a miscalculation by the Burlington Fire Department, who came to help out, the hoses weren't long enough to reach the river, so townspeople ran back and forth with milk jugs to get water. It was no use. After the fire was put out, the only thing that remained was some burnt foundation, a few laundry carts, a dumbwaiter shaft, and some fireplaces. A few years later, 2 more buildings were built on the land, as if the hotel had been split into 2 pieces. The right side building was home to Vermont's Woodsmen of America Headquarters, and the second was a tobacco and cigar shop that is no longer there.

This is all that remained of the beautiful Park Hotel after the fire in 1908.

A floor plan of the massive Bellevue hotel, with the new foundation and building size penciled over.

Bellevue Hotel

Bellevue Hotel was the other hotel that burned down in the fire of 1908. Located on 7 Bridge Street, it is currently the Greensea Systems headquarters and a few office buildings. Bellevue Hotel was not put into operation as a hotel until 1889, but was Ransom Hotel's barn. Ransom Hotel and the barn burned in the Richmond 1870 fire. The barn was rebuilt a year later as a hardware store, an oven shop and a grocery store. Charles and Mary Bostwick, the owners of the (rented) downstairs grocery store, bought the 3 story building and turned it into the Bellevue Hotel in 1889. There was another fire in 1891, and Bellevue Hotel opened it's arms to people whose houses were destroyed in the fire, giving them free room and board. Bellevue was a very modern hotel, with running hot water and electricity in each room, along with several dumbwaiters. People remember Bellevue fondly, with a big open- air terrace for dancing, and lots of live music. By 1903, the Bellevue could accommodate 75 people, (1 per room), and was the biggest and cheapest hotel in Richmond, charging only 2 dollars per night. The building burned on April 23, 1908. People loved it so much, that they ran to the river and wet sheets and clothing to fling onto the building to protect it, but they could only save the lower levels of the building. Bellevue burned, and the owner at the time, Ms. Downey, received a 3000 dollar insurance settlement.

A photo of the large Bellevue Hotel in all of it's glory.

Current Day (2018)

Hotels In Richmond

Currently, the only hotel in Richmond Vermont is the Victorian Inn mentioned above. Park Place is a funeral home, and after the fire it was built even smaller than it was before the hotel expansions. Bellevue Hotel burned about halfway to the ground, and was rebuilt with some of the foundation that was holding it up before the fire. Greensea Systems, the current business residing where Bellevue once was, is much smaller than Bellevue was. It also has a underground level. The rest of the hotels either burned, or were demolished, or have been re purposed. The train no longer stops in Richmond, which stopped the flow of tourists and travelers. Even though the hotels are mostly gone, their incredible legacies and stories live on today.

Bibliography

¹ “VII - Overnight Accommodations.” Richmond, Vermont: a History of More than 200 Years, by Harriet Wheatley Riggs, Richmond Historical Society, 2007, pp. 150–184.

²Turner, Martha. “THE HISTORY SPACE: The Day Downtown Richmond Burned.” Burlington Free Press, Burlington Free Press, 4 Apr. 2014, www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2014/04/04/the-history-space-the-day-downtown-richmond-burned/7272017/. Accessed 26 Nov. 2018.

Turner, Martha. “Images of Richmond in the Early 20th Century - Joseph Bishop's Glass Plate Negatives.” Richmond Historical Society - Home of the Round Church, Richmond, www.oldroundchurch.com/index.php/component/content/article/1-general/28-images-of-richmond-in-the-early-20th-century-joseph-bishops-glass-plate-negatives. Accessed 26 Nov. 2018.

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