Moments Project – The Common
The Common Brattleboro Vermont.
This land was deeded in 1815 to representatives of the Brattleboro Meeting-House Society for $300. A Congregational Church was here until 1842. Chase Street Schoolhouse stood on the northwest corner. This roughly 2 ½ acres was a barren, sandy tract crossed on foot or by team. It remained this way until 1856, when village bailiffs caused it to be enclosed and improved. A fence was built. Locust trees were planted on the northeast end to promote the establishment of a lawn. Most of the trees now standing on the Common were planted then.
By 1870 fencing was removed. A Rural Improvement Association undertook its care around 1880. There is no record of a highway ever having been laid out here. From 1895 to 1923 the northernmost stop of a town trolley system was located at the Common.
The definitive characteristics of the Common are the 1887 Civil War Soldier’s Monument, the 1984 War Memorial listing men and women who gave their lives during the conflicts of the 1900’s, and the Bandstand, originally constructed in 1901.
The Brattleboro Historical Society
