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Brownington Village Historic District

Brownington Village Historic District
BROWNINGTON VILLAGE HISTORIC DISTRICT.jpg
Athenian Hall
Brownington Village Historic District is located in Vermont
Brownington Village Historic District
Brownington Village Historic District is located in the US
Brownington Village Historic District
Location Hinman Settler Road and Brownington Center Road, Brownington, Vermont
Coordinates 44°50′13″N 72°10′07″W / 44.83694°N 72.16861°W / 44.83694; -72.16861Coordinates: 44°50′13″N 72°10′07″W / 44.83694°N 72.16861°W / 44.83694; -72.16861
Area 110 acres (45 ha)
Architectural style Greek Revival
NRHP Reference # 73000197
Added to NRHP May 9, 1973

The Brownington Village Historic District is a historic site in Brownington, Vermont, United States. It is located near the intersection of Hinman and Brownington Center roads. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on June 9, 1973. The district consists of five buildings within the Old Stone House Museum complex and three neighboring houses, dating from the early 19th century.

In the early 19th century, Brownington was a community on the Hinman Settler Road, a primary route in the county. It was on the stagecoach route from Boston, Massachusetts to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Prior to 1816, the village was one of two county seats. Residents developed a number of facilities to take advantage of the town's situation.

Alexander Twilight alone constructed this four-story granite building which was used as a dormitory for out-of-town boarding students at the nearby Orleans County Grammar School. He called it "Athenian Hall." Granite was almost never used in building construction in the early 19th century in Orleans County. No one knows where the granite came from.

The dormitory closed in 1859, two years after Twilight's death. The Orleans County Historical Society bought it in 1918 for $500. Today it is called "The Old Stone House Museum." It is one of the best-preserved institutional buildings of its era in the United States. Operated as an historical museum, it contains collections of 18th, 19th, and early 20th-century furniture, paintings, decorative art, folk art, tools and household items.

Across the road from the Old Stone House is Alexander Twilight's own house, which he built in 1830. He and his wife accepted several boarding students at their house each year; these students slept in rooms on the second floor of the house. Students continued to board with the Twilights after Athenian Hall dormitory was built. The Orleans County Historical Society bought the house in 1999. It has been restored and serves as a visitor center for the Museum and as an office for the Historical Society.


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