The links shown above are businesses in Springfield Vermont and others linking to submission sites. |
About Springfield Vermont One of the great things about the Springfield region is our "Vermont Quality of Life". Springfield is a full-service community, but travel a mile or two in any direction from the town center and you will find the quintessential Vermont experience. Whether you're driving along the Connecticut River, teeing it up at Crown Point County Club or hiking through Springweather Nature area, you'll find endless opportunties to enjoy all that Vermont has to offer! Historical Sites/Points of Interest Eureka Schoolhouse Vermont's oldest one-room schoolhouse, built in 1785, is located on Route 11 as you enter Springfield from the east. The Schoolhouse is a square, pyramidal, hipped-roof structure, sheathed in pine boards, scored to simulate "Ashlar" or cut stone blocks. Some 19th century materials have been collected and are displayed offering a nostalgic look at what learning was like during that period. Open to the public daily (except Tuesdays) from Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day, from 10 am - 4 pm. The Schoolhouse also serves as the local tourist information center. Fort at Number 4 Originally built 250 years ago during the French and Indian Wars, this reconstruction of the fortified village of Fort at Number 4 includes a palisade, province hours and lookout tower. Furnishings, crafts and tools have been assembled to enable period-costumed volunteers to depict frontier life in this 18th century, pre-revolutionary community. Open 10:00 am - 4 pm, from late May to mid October, the Fort is located six miles south of Springfield in Charlestown, New Hampshire, one-half mile east of Exit 7, I-91 on scenic Route 11. For more information, call (603) 826-5700. Hartness House and Hartness-Porter Museum Now an elegant inn set on thirty-two acres of gardens and woodland, this rambling turn-of-the-century house was built in 1904 for James Hartness. Governor of Vermont from 1921-1923, a leading amateur astronomer and Vermont's first licensed pilot, Hartness designed and built the Turret Equatorial telescope (in 1910), one of the first tracking telescopes in America. It remains in working condition to this day on the front lawn of the Hartness House(link to member listing). As owner of Jones and Lamsom Machine Tool Company, Hartness hired Russell Porter, an engineer, to run the optical department of his firm. in 1937, Porter was approached to work on the Mt. Palomar Observatory, which was completed in 1948. Some of Porter's conceptual sketches from this project are on display in the "catacombs" some 240 feet from the Hartness House. This five-room underground apartment, which serves as a museum for the Springfield Telescope Makers, houses a collection of telescopes and unique drawings and paintings. Regular tours of this area are available. Main Street Listed on the National Register of Historical Places, the Main Street offers a variety of architectural styles and character, all backboned by the Black River. Visitors can get a birds-eye view of the cascading Comtu Falls, a spectacular sight in any season. The Miller Art Center-- Now the home of the Springfield Art & Historical Society, this Civil War era mansion overlooks the downtown Main Street of Springfield. Located at 9 Elm Street, the museum offers a variety of changing art and historical exhibits. Its permanent collections include, Bennington Pottery, Lew Pewter, Dolls and Carriages from Springfield's early toy industry, 19th and 20th century paintings and early Machine Tool Industry photographs and artifacts. A large collection of genealogy and historical research materials are also available. The Center is open mid April to November 1. Hours are Tuesday-Friday 10:00 am - 4 pm, Saturday 2 pm - 5 pm. Winter months by appointment. Admission is free. Call the Center at (802) 885-2415 for a list of upcoming events. The Crown Point Road Crown Point Road, 20 feet wide and 77 1/2 miles long, was carved out of the wilderness in 1759 by 200 rangers under the command of Captain Stark. Originally known as the "Indian Road", it begins at the Fort at Number Four on the Connecticut River and continues to Lake Champlain. The southeastern part of this route, which passes through Plymouth, Ludlow, Cavendish, Weathersfield and Springfield is well marked and is frequently used as a hiking trail. Weathersfield Historical Buildings Located in the Weathersfield Center Historic District, six miles north of Springfield, is the Weathersfield Historical Society museum, the Reverend Dan Foster House. The historic Weathersfield Center Meeting House is just across the road. The museum, a 1785 parsonage and barn, houses a collection of furniture, textiles, toys, household items, farm tools and a research library. An old forge contains a working furnace and bellows. No admission is charged. Open late June to early October, Thursday through Monday from 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm. |