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The Otter Creek Student History Club

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Tuesday August 29, 2006

By Erin Connor

   The members of the Otter Creek Student History Club decided this year to research and write bi-weekly articles on topics of local, state and national history. They would publicly like to thank the Valley Voice Newspaper for allowing us a venue to publish our findings and hope readers will enjoy our efforts. Please join us every other week as we celebrate the history of the region we proudly call home. The first article is entitled “If These Walls Could Talk,” and was written about her home by our youngest club member.

About the author:
Erin Marie Connor lives in Bridport, Vermont with her parents and seven brothers and sisters. She attends Saint Mary's school in Ticonderoga, New York. She will be entering the 6th grader and has maintained high academic honors and perfect attendance throughout school. Erin is the 2006 International titlist for her award winning speech on God, Flag & Country through the speech competition sponsored by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, where she spoke to a crowd of 6,000 in Orlando, Florida. Erin is the current Miss Vermont Sweetheart through America's National Teenager Scholarship Organization. Erin loves to read and has participated in many state sponsored competitions.  Erin is excited about life and wants to be a doctor, lawyer or a farmer when she grows up.

“If These Walls Could Talk”

By Erin Conner  OCBSHC

Over two hundred years I have stood in Bridport, Vermont. Even though I am made of wood I have weathered many seasons here in Vermont.  My story goes back to 1746, actually July 4, 1746. That date is recorded on the downstairs inner front wall. My current owners found my secret a few years ago when they were making some much needed repairs on me. The reason I say secret is that before 1866 very few records were kept and the ones that are around are basically not readable.

I am a simple house they say - a story and half to be exact. I am called that because I am not very tall.   I am made out of clapboards have windows on all sides and have interesting materials in me to keep my occupants warm.

My previous owners have stuffed my walls and floors with sheep wool, paper and rugs. In the beginning I have had many owners especially from Massachusetts and Connecticut.  I even knew Ann Story.  Her cabin is not very far from where I stand, maybe 15 miles. She and her family were encouraged to move from Connecticut to a more favorable farming community by the royal governor of New Hampshire under King George III of England.

I am very close to Lake Champlain in fact you can see the lake from my second floor.  Part of Dead Creek flows through the land I am built on. Dead Creek is rich with wildlife.  My owners did not have to walk to the lake for water, as they dug a well and with a hand pump were able to have enough water for everyone. This pump is right in the back yard very close to the carriage room.

The carriage room is the first room in me.  This was where my owners kept a carriage so that the weather did not destroy the family's only means of transportation.  When you walk a little farther you will see a room that people used as a kitchen. Next to the kitchen is a panty were all sorts of wonderful preserves and jams were stored along with bins holding potatoes and flour.

The upstairs are the sleeping quarters or bedrooms. The stairs to the upstairs are very steep. They were made that way so that the landings would not take up too much floor space. The dinning room has two windows, one facing the south and the other facing the west.  A large wooden table is in the middle of this room it can hold ten people.

My owners were all farmers.  Some were sheep farmers and some were dairy farmers. My current owners operate a small dairy herd with about 100 cows. They have seven children, two dogs, several cats, one rabbit, four ducks, some chickens, twenty five emus and a very special house - me.

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