Process

While on-site, time was spent primarily looking at the site in West Rutland as an example of the mills and quarries operated by the Vermont Marble Co. This property owned in part by the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center and in part by the Gawet Marble and Granite was able to be explored in-depth thanks to their cooperation.

Some of the facilities that made up the mills and quarries still exist on the West Rutland site, and were helpful in contextualizing historic photographs of buildings no longer standing as well as better understanding more drastic changes over time. The view taken looking north from the top of the railcar at the south end of the site, for example, includes the H.H. Brown Company Store and Coping Shop now used as the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center's main office and gallery space and helps us understand how little evidence remains of the three mills of the Sheldon Marble Co. today, with dense foliage making up what was once the open marble yard.

Sometimes, identifying locations and subjects of items in archival photographs can be difficult, especially at sites where facilities changed frequently to respond to the industry's demands. This photo of the Old Gilson Mill in West Rutland, for example, was labeled as "West Rutland" but was hard to identify and contextualize at first; none of the buildings depicted here are still standing. 

First, by identifying the school on the hill based on other historic photographs and maps, we can figure out about where the picture was taken from and the fact that it faces southeast. Secondly, we can begin to identify the Old Gilson Mill based on the material it's made out of as noted by the Library of Congress Sanborn map collection; a reliable source of historic maps with information for insurance purposes. By also identifying the building adjacent to it and the unusual covered bridge connecting the two, we can confidently say we know everything depicted in this photo and use it to identify other photos of the same buildings.