Randolph, VT Buildings

By

Dan Hohmann

History of Randolph

The town of Randolph was founded on June 29, 1781. It was founded by the Vermont charter and was located in the current Orange county. When the area was first settled Randolph had three villages. The three villages were named Randolph Center, East Randolph and West Randolph. Today Randolph Center, and East Randolph still exist and are known by those names, while West Randolph is just called Randolph and houses the downtown area where restaurants, stores and banks are located. Randolph is also known for Justin Morgan, a Morgan Horse breeder and also was the setting for a silent movie called The Offenders.

Map of Randolph and Building Locations (Downtown)

Key:A: Randolph Depot

B: St. Johns Episcopal ChurchC: Kimball Library

D: Chandler Music Hall

Satellite View Map of Randolph and Building Locations (Downtown)

Kimball Public Library

In 1901 a person by the name of Robert Kimball donated the money for the site and building to the town of Randolph. A set of architectural plans that satisfied Kimball's requirements were also provided and right off the library's construction began in 1902. In 1903 the library had its dedication ceremony. The building itself is of the Classical style. Its exterior is red brick with an interior that features columns and well lit rooms. After the building was complete it became the towns public library emptying out the space above the Morton drug store. Today the library still stands in its original building. The building is still in great condition with most of its original features still intact.

Kimball Public Library

67 Main Street

Randolph, VT 05060

Kimball PicturesFront View

Kimball PicturesLeft back View

Kimball PicturesRight Back View

Kimball PicturesRight Side View

Kimball PicturesLeft Side View

Chandler Music Hall

71-73 Main Street

Randolph, VT 05060

Chandler Music Hall

The Chandler Music Hall was completed on the site of an old church in 1907 by Albert Chandler. When it first opened it housed theatrical performances like concerts, lectures, silent films, operas and political meetings. Today Chandler houses most anything as it focuses on being a community based center. To this day Randolph uses it for town meetings, schools use it for performances and people rent it out for performances. Most of the building is still intact. The front of the building has since been changes but the management of Chandler have strived to keep most of the inside of the building original. This especially holds true in the music hall. The condition of the building is relatively good, a strong base of volunteers strive to keep it in great condition.

Chandler PicturesFront View

Chandler PicturesLeft Rear View

Although The air conditioning system that was installed is very apparent on the outside, they took special care to integrate it into the building on the inside without having it stand out too much.

Chandler PicturesLeft High View

Chandler PicturesRight Side

Chandler PicturesLeft Side

Randolph Depot

2 Salisbury Street

Randolph, VT 05060

Randolph Depot

• The Randolph depot was built in 1881 by the Central VT R.R. In 1911 a clock was installed in the tower that is on top of the building. The station also originally included a Canopy out in the departure area but that was later removed in 1943. Currently in addition to a train station the depot also houses a restaurant and a place to get some coffee. The train that goes by is the Vermonter which goes from St. Albans to Washington D.C. with several stops in between. There is also the Randolph Stagecoach Transportation dept across the tracks from the Depot which makes this area a transportation center for Randolph and surrounding communities. The building itself is in great shape both inside and out. This is especially true considering that the building gets heavy use.

Depot PicturesFront View

Depot PicturesLeft Front View (Original Building)

Taken from Pg 117 of “Early Photographs of RANDOLPH, VERMONT 1855-1948”

Depot PicturesRear View

Depot PicturesRight Rear Side View

Depot PicturesLeft Side View

Depot PicturesLeft Rear Side View

St. John’s Episcopal Church

15 Summer Street

Randolph, VT 05060

St. John’s Episcopal Church

• This church was built in 1867. The land that it was built on was donated by Judge Weston and the cost of the building that was built came out to roughly $3896.00. The land location was determined to be on Summer Street in downtown Randolph. It was built to replace Old Grace Church. Since then the church has seen many new Rectors and many services have been held there. Around 1881 it was thoroughly renovated. Renovations include three new glass stained windows and a new black walnut altar. The building itself seems to be in a bit of disrepair due to peeling paint and outdated fixtures. The inside seems to be a little old as well but the volunteers who keep the building up seem to do a good job at doing so.

St. John’s PicturesFront View

St. John’s PicturesFront Close-up View

St. John’s PicturesRear View

St. John’s PicturesRight View

St. John’s PicturesLeft View

St. John’s PicturesExterior Window

This style of window is what's found throughout the exterior of the church.

Conclusion

This project has helped me to see buildings in the community that most people would normally overlook. I've also had an interest in the Randolph Depot as well as the Chandler Music hall and doing this project gave me a good excuse to go in and talk to the management of these places. It also allowed me to get customized tours of the entire building that normally I wouldn’t get if I was attending a performance or going in to eat a meal.

Resources UsedIncludes Books, Informational catalogs, Interviews and Websites

• http://www.randolphvt.com/demographics.shtml• http://stjohnsrandolphvt.org/history.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolph,_VT• http://www.kimballlibrary.org/history.shtml• http://www.chandler-arts.org/history.php• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolph_(Amtrak_station)• Chandler 2008-2009 Season of Live Performances Catalog• Kimball Public Library Rutland Herald Supplement booklet• Kimball Public Library “A Century of Reading in Randolph” booklet by Helen

Husher• “Early Photographs of RANDOLPH, VERMONT 1855-1948” by Wes Herwig• “Not a Bad Seat in the House. Albert B. Chandler and his Marvelous Music

Hall” by M. Dickey Drysdale• Thanks to Harriet Chase, Randolph Historical Society for her time.• Thanks to employees at each building for providing information and their

time.