The sixth in a series on Brandon’s historic buildings
By JAMES PECK
BRANDON—In 1976, virtually all of Brandon’s commercial buildings located downtown along Center Street and Park Street were placed on the National Historic Register as part of the Brandon Village Historic District. Most of them are made of red brick and most are over 100 years old.
The Blue Moon building at 31 Center, as discussed in a previous article, was the survivor of floods and fires that destroyed surrounding buildings. But the Blue Moon building isn’t the oldest surviving complete building downtown. That designation belongs to the current Town Office building located at 49 Center Street on the corner of West Seminary Street.
Thanks to research done by Blaine Cliver a few years back, we know that it was built in 1828 by John Conant, one of Brandon’s earliest settlers and a successful industrialist who invented and sold the Conant stove all over New England in the early 1800s. Yes, Conant Square is named after him, as he built most of the residences there as well.
One caveat: there are parts of the adjoining Leary Block, namely the eastern side of that building, that are in fact older than the town offices. However, the town offices are the oldest complete building.
1828 Construction
The deeds say that in 1828 Conant and his sons Chauncey and John A. built a 2-story 55′-by-36′ brick store “across the pond,” meaning it straddled the Neshobe River, the first building to do so. He was allowed to do so because he had also bought the lease rights for building over the river in 1816.
The date “1828” can be seen in the fanlight over the north exterior door from the second‐floor.
Blaine Cliver: “The building, now used as the town office building, became the office for the Conants’ enterprises, which included a grist mill, spring shop, and the ironworks across the road. Not only did it serve that purpose for the Conants, but the first floor was divided longitudinally, from front to back, so that half of the building could be rented to generate income. The second floor also seems to have been leased as tenements.”
The building to the right, or east, now the Leary Block, owned by Nancy and Jim Leary, was mostly built a bit later in the early 1850s and was connected by a shared stairwell.
Underneath Conant’s 1828 building ran the Neshobe at its narrowest point of just over 20 feet and a sluice was constructed to enhance the river flow on to the lower falls.
Brandon Iron & Car Wheel Co.
In 1852, Conant and his sons sold the Conant Iron Works to the Brandon Iron and Car Wheel Company, of which John Howe, Jr. was the owner. The building that had been built across the river then became the office of the new enterprise. See 1853 sketch.
Owing to the 1855 bankruptcy of Howe’s largest customer, the Brandon Car Co., Howe began looking for other products to be manufactured in his foundry. With the purchase of a scale patent in 1857, he began the Howe Scale Company, which in the latter part of the nineteenth century was to become one of two major producers of scales in Vermont, earning many awards at fairs and exhibitions in the United States, as well as the gold, silver, and bronze medals at the 1878 Paris Exhibition in competition with manufacturers from all over the world.
Officially, the B. I. & C. W. Co. remained the parent company of Howe Scale and, prior to its move to Rutland in 1877, the town office building was the company’s headquarters. The Brandon Manufacturing Co., successor of B. I. & C. W. Co., also had offices on the east side of the building until the late 1870s.
During the period between 1853, when the map was made with the sketch of the building, and the earliest photograph we have showing the structure in 1868, some changes were made to the building and the area around it. A new stone bridge had been built in 1867 over the river and a sidewalk from the bridge extended in front of the office building. Two new sets of steps went up to entrances on either side of the front facade, and a new porch extended across the front. A new wooden sidewalk connected the porch to the new addition on the ‘Bank Block’ (now the Learys’ building) to the east. (The Bank Block was named for the Brandon Bank, an early bank in Brandon, which was nationalized in 1864 and became the Brandon National Bank).
First National Bank
In 1864, the First National Bank, the first nationally chartered bank in Brandon in 1863, purchased the building from the B. I. & C. W. Co. for $2,300, occupying the building’s west side while a grocery store was situated on the east side.
Cliver: “By 1921, the bank took over the whole of the building’s first floor and removed the longitudinal bearing wall that separated the occupants on the first floor. Since removal of the bearing wall left the second floor unsupported, two trusses were installed in the attic from which the second-floor framing was hung with five iron rods.”
Town Buys the Building
The bank continued to occupy the building until 1952 when it merged with the Brandon National Bank to become the First Brandon National Bank and moved its office to the ‘Bank Corner’ at Park and Center Streets (where Bar Harbor Bank is today).
In 1955, the old bank building was sold to the Town of Brandon to become the town office building. The town offices have now been there 70 years.
Early in the town’s history, the town clerk’s office had been located in the town clerk’s personal residence. Toward the end of the 1800s—from 1892 until 1919—the town office was actually in the First National Bank building, on the east side. From 1919 through 1955, it was located across the street, first in the new building at 18 Center then in the Green Block directly across the street, where Green Park is today. In 1936, a proposal had been made to move the town office into the town hall, but that proposal was voted down by the townspeople, 138-78.
Bank Vault
In 1921, the bank had installed a large vault in the back of 49 Center made by the Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Co. of Hamilton, Ohio. The vault was very secure and on a time lock. The bank was held up only once in 1934 and the thieves couldn’t open it, so they had to settle for the $2,400 in the cashier’s drawer instead of an additional amount that had just been locked in the safe. (See below.)
Once the town took over the building in 1955, they inherited the vault to keep town records. The vault is still used today for deeds and other important town documents.
2016 Restoration
In 2016, a Brandon Town Office Restoration Committee raised funds to significantly restore the building after it had been closed for five years due to damage from Tropical Storm Irene. Led by Blaine Cliver and local architect Robert Black, the Committee worked to structurally stabilize the building. Both floors were renovated and brightened up, providing added space, ADA compatibility, and retaining its historic look. The other passionate members of the Committee were Devon Fuller, Wayne Rausenberger, and Jeff Stewart. See YouTube video on the restoration here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcK_HMgY_r4
The town offices have now been back at 49 Center for eight years, home to Town Manager Seth Hopkins, Assistant Town Manager Bill Moore, Town Clerk Sue Gage and Assistant Town Clerk Luanne Merkert, and others.
Most Valuable Old Building in Brandon
Having stood across the river now for 197 years, in Blaine Cliver’s words “the town’s office building represents a spectrum history not found in any other building in Brandon’s downtown. It is the last remaining structure connected to Brandon’s early industrial past. In addition, this was the location of a business that was nationally recognized, though now little known, the Brandon Iron & Car Wheel Company, parent company of Howe Scale Company, a company that gained world renown and was one of the largest employers in the history of Brandon. The Town Office Building also housed, for 88 years, the town’s first nationally chartered bank, the First National Bank, as well as numerous local businesses, including a grocer and an insurance office.
The present structure is of valuable importance to the town and deserves recognition for these merits as being an important part of the cultural heritage of downtown Brandon.”
2028 will mark the Town Office building’s bicentennial and, hopefully, the town will recognize it appropriately.
