Riverside Avenue has been an area for numerous landslides over the past 9-10 decades with the most recent occurring just last October 31st 2019. From the 1872 US Coast Survey there is zero evidence of landslide activity on the Riverside area. The hillside is, for the most part, covered in trees and greenery. 1928 was the first documented landslide that lead to improvements made to Riverside Ave in 1935. In 1955 there was a large landslide that carried thousands of yards of fill into the Winooski River. Four years later another large landslide occurred around the area of Manhattan lane due to a large flood that caused instability in the hillside. In 1968 a landslide brought a need for action which involved soil testing in order to stabilize the slope. Illegal dumping of fill by the owner of the Koffee Kup Bakery caused the slope in front of their property to fail. The worst of the landslides have occured in front of the Koffee Kup Bakery due to lack of action taken to stabilize the slope and fix the issue.

The most recent landslide occurred last October 31st 2019. The landslide was predicted to occur by Paul Bierman. He found evidence of fractures in the soil and leaning trees that were a clear indication that the slope would fail soon. Even today there are still issues with the Riverside Avenue hillside. Over the course of 9-10 decades there have been around a dozen documented landslides in newspaper articles and through evidence from aerial photography. A strong recommendation brought up by Paul is to get rid of the buildings on the hillside of Riverside Ave and plant trees everywhere in order to stabilize the slope and reduce the impacts if there were to be another landslide.

1935 - Efforts were made to stabilize the part of Riverside Avenue that is in from of the old Fairview Garage. (Baird, 2019) Photograph by L.L McAllister.

1955 - Riverside Avenue washout. Massive landslide carried thousands of yards of filling along with half a dozen big pines into the Winooski River. Cost $35,000 to reconstruct the washed out section. Buildings along this area sank around 3 meters below their original height. (Baird, 2019) Photo taken by James Detore for American Fidelity insurance company.

1972 - Development of housing on the former stream bed, now known as Hildred drive. Large area in front of Hildred Drive deforested likely due to a landslide. Image from Riverside Ave Imagery, Maps, and Elevation.

1984 - Landslide scar in front of Koffee Kup Bakery. The worst of the landslides have occured in this area.