The Central Vermont Railway was Vermont's initial- and most
successful- entry into the railroad age, with service beginning in 1848
between White River Jct. and Bethel.
"The CV", as it became known to Vermonters, quickly grew and prospered over
the next century as railroads became the dominant mode of transportation on the
North American continent.

The CV grew to 325 route miles starting at the Vermont-Canadian border and running
south to Long Island Sound at New London, CT. From the start, CV was Vermont's
flagship railroad; the CV played a key role in Vermont's agricultural economy by shipping
milk overnight to Boston and returning with manufactured goods and groceries. The CV
enjoyed further growth through it's affiliation with Grand Trunk in the 1890's, and with
big time Canadian National beginning in the 1920's, ushering in the golden age of fleet
passenger service. 

The 1940's Ad for CV's "Ambassador"                       
                                                                     

 
White River Junction's strategic location at the confluence of the White and
Connecticut Rivers destined it to become northern New England's busiest rail hub.
White River Jct. also served as the division point for CV's Northern and Southern Divisions.
White River was where train crews changed, and passengers and freight were switched
onto the Boston & Maine (B&M), the Canadian Pacific (CP), and the Woodstock Railroad.
"Change at White River!" was the often heard instruction to many a northern New England
bound traveler in the glory days.

c.1940's Ad for CV's Rocket Fast freight Services

Most of the area's supplies and manufactured goods were brought by CV and B&M freights
to White River Jct. wholesalers. These wholesalers were well known to generations of area
residents and included Cross-Abbott Co. (groceries), Swift & Co. (meat), Twin State Fruit Co.,
Vermont Baking Co., and White River Paper Co.. H.P. Hood & Sons had a depot for shipping
milk overnight to it's big processing plant in Boston, and the U.S. Post Office had it's major
rail-truck areas distribution facility downtown as well. White River Jct. was a commercial center
for a 50 mile radius with all the hustle and bustle- old timers will say with a racy side- traditionally
associated with a railroad town.

Generations of travelers, business people, area residents, Dartmouth students, summer campers,
and skiers disembarked or changed trains at White River Jct. It was the rare Upper Valley family
that had not participated in a send off(s) and/or reunion(s) with loved ones and friends at the
White River Junction station. Can you hear Glenn Miller yet?  In it's glory years, c. 1920-1960,
White River played host to CV's steam-powered fleet of crack passenger trains, headed by it's
flagship Montrealer/Washingtonian (via NY Penn Station), The Vermonter (NY-GCT),
The New Englander (White River Jct.-Boston), and The Ambassador (Montreal-Boston).
Canadian Pacific featured the Alouette with service from Boston to Montreal and The B&M
ran The Bostonian (WRJ-Boston North Station). 40 passenger trains daily in White River's heyday.

Generations of the same White River Junction families earned their livlihoods working for the railroads.
White River Junction's strategic location as an interchange for 2 major New England lines, the CV
and B&M, as well as Canadian Pacific and the Woodstock Railroad, required a large work force.
In the glory days, your White River Junction neighborhood was very often linked to which railroad
you worked for. B&M workers tended to settle near the B&M yard, along South Main Street,
Nutt Lane, and the lower Mountain Avenue areas, while CV workers more often settled along
the Terraces and north of town, near the large CV yard and Roundhouse at the Junction of
Routes 4 & 5 and Ponzi's Italian Restaurant.

The heyday began to fade in the 1950's with improved highways and better truck service
for moving freight. The 1960's brought the interstate highways (89 & 91) and improved
driving times to most points in the northeast and resulted in the end of passenger service
to White River in 1966; freight service continued but at a much smaller volume. Downtown
White River Jct. went into a long decline while at the same time Uptown White River Jct.,
at the Interstate 89 & 91 interchange, started to boom. But the story doesn't end here-

White River Junction - Present/Future


The Vermonter at Union Station, WRJ

Amtrak runs a shortened version of the old Montrealer as a day train between
St. Albans and Washington via White River Jct. NETIM and area rail fans
are working toward a tourist/dinner train to run on the old B&M Wells River
Branch to take advantage of growing rail interest. Meanwhile, railroad era
stalwarts such as the Hotel Coolidge and Polka Dot Restaurant continue
to prosper; old timers still talk about Ponzi's, a popular destination of locals
and train travelers for home style Italian food. The Tuckerbox is the internet
cafe in downtown White River Junction.

Downtown White River Jct. Re-Development


Downtown WRJ is coming to life again with the re-development
of the former Tip-Top Baking Co. complex. This venerable
White River landmark is being converted into an arts and
entertainment center. The Tip Top Cafe, serving new
American cuisine, is drawing many new patrons to the downtown.
The New England Transportation Institute & Museum (NETIM)
opened the rail museum at Union Station in 2001, NETIM's
plans for a campus-style institute and museum can be seen
at www.newenglandtransportationmuseum.org.

Uptown White River Junction, Vermont


White River Jct. and "transportation hub" just seem to go together.
As the railroads faded in the '50's and early '60's, Interstates
89 and 91 were opened to White River, ushering in a whole new
era of being "The Crossroads of Northern New England".
Boston was now only 2 hours, Montreal 3 1/2, and New York 4 1/2 hours.
Eventually 650+ hotel rooms, the major VT-NH postal distribution center,
and an expanded V.A. Hospital grew up around the interchange.
Nearby, Quechee Lakes developers began land acquisition in 1968 and
by 1980 Quechee was Vermont's largest and toniest resort home
development with 2,500 homes and condominiums master planned
on 2,000 acres between White River Jct. and Woodstock.

Upper Valley Vermont and New Hampshire


Dartmouth College- The Green & Baker Library

Dartmouth College has long played a key role in the Upper Valley.
This venerable Ivy League outpost is a significant contributor to the
Upper Valley's economic as well as it's cultural life. Many college
events and facilities are available to area residents; Hanover is the
classic New England college town with it's ivy draped, tree-shaded
campus, and it's high-energy, student-driven ambience.
(More at Dartmouthcollege.edu)


Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC)

The DHMC campus was built and opened in the early 1990's. DHMC quickly
established itself as the economic engine for the UpperValley and beyond
with more than 5,000 full-time employees and nearly 500,000 in and outpatient visits annually.
The DHMC campus includes the 396-bed, tertiary care hospital, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic,
a network of more than 900 primary and specialty care physicians located throughout Vermont
and New Hampshire, and the Dartmouth Medical School, all on a 225 acre campus on the
Hanover-Lebanon border (I-89 Exit 18). DHMC is the northern New England outpost
of what a recent NY Times p.1 story called "...the nation's health care epicenter"
along the Boston-NY-Washington Corridor. (More at DHMC.org)

Centerra Resource Park


Centerra Resource Park has emerged as the Upper Valley's leading  mixed-use,
master planned business park. Centerra is strategically located on a wooded
140 -acre campus along Route 120, in Lebanon, NH, directly opposite the
DHMC campus. Centerra is home to a number of retail, office, recreational,
hospitality, civic, and light industrial, and research endevors. Leading companies
at Centerra include high-tech firms such as Fluent, INC., Geographic Technology
(GDT), Lumenscent Systems, INC., and Tally Systems. Park amenities include,
Centerra Marketplace, a 59,000 sq ft retail center, River Valley Club, a state -
of-the art- fitness center, the Grenache restaurant, ( with it's Locke - Ober connection),
and Marriot - Residence Inn. (more at Centerra .com)

I-89,  Exit 20 W. Lebanon, NH, Shopping / Commercial


Just as White River Junction is the transportation hub,
and Hanover is the cultural/ intellectual/ health care center,
tax free WEeswt Lebanon is the shopping and businesscenter of
the Upper Valley, including nearby Lebanon Airport, with dailey flights to
Boston and New York.Shopping headed by L.L. Bean, Eastern Mountain Sports,
J.C. Penny, Wal-Mart,K-Mart, Borders Books, Staples, Powerhouse Mall,
3 Supermarkets, NHY State Liquor Store with the best selection of wines
in VT and NH, all of the fast foods, and many other retail and service
businesses as well. Also Home Depot oped in 2004.

Woodstock, VT The Green - Court House



Hartland Three Corners, VT - Cival war Monument and Damon Hall



New England was the birthplace of aboltionism and the Republican Party in 1854;
for the next 104 years Vermont would be one Party Republican State, so much so
that it was the only state not to have voted for FDR and the New Deal at least
once in 4 elections, Monuments like the one above dominate most village greens;
it was Vermont's 13th, 14th, and 16th Regiments commanded by Gen. Stannard
who turned the tide against Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg July 3, 1863.

The Oxbow, at Newbury, VT

"This Blessed Plot, this earth, This realm, this England...."Some
of the most famous line from Richard II could also have been said
about the Connecticut River Valley in New England. Vermont was known
for it's small hillside farms which covered most of the state, providing milk
for the Boston market until the 1930's when they no longer could compete.
Vermont's most fertile farms were like those in the Oxbow, and have survived
to this day, still producing the highest quality crops, and carry on Vermont's
rich agricultural tradition, 21st century Vermont agricultural policy is now
focused on locally grown produce and other food products through the state's
"Vermont Fresh Network", a consortium of farmers, restaurant owners, and
consumers at Vermont's farmers' markets and restaurants.

Killington Ski Resort


Connecticut-based entrepreneur Preston Smith started Killington in 1958 upon
the recommendation of Perry Merrill, Vermont's long-time Commissioner of Forests
& Parks and lengendary empire builder. Smith and partners soon grew Killington
into the largest ski resort in the eastern U.S. with nearly 1,200 acres of trails on
7 mountains. Killington pioneered the use of snow making and now claims
to make more snow than any other ski resort in the world. Killington has skiing
for every ability and market segment imaginable and also has the longest ski
season in the East. (More at Killington.com)

VT -NH New England


New England still looms large in the imagination of the nation as we enter the twenty-first century.
The first English settlers arrived at Plymouth in 1620 and in little more than a century
and a half were able to build a thriving Colonial society to challenge the mighty British Empire.
Much of what became American culture was at root New England culture and government,
starting with the Boston merchant-patriots who began the War of Independence immortalized
in Longfellow's famous poem!* Joel Garreau offers some fascinating insights in the update
of his 1981 classic The Nine Nations of North America, a book Garreau describes as his attempt to
update Tocqueville's Democracy In America: "All New England had was striking natural beauty,
from ocean to mountain; great rural to urban diversity in a very compact area; the longest Anglo
history on the continent; the highest concentration of superb universities in the world; a work force
with generations of experience in using their hands...; New England is nothing if not resilient.
It is still full of very smart people who resolutely put quality of life ahead of standard of living.
This is not a bad recipe for the 21st century as New England's reviving economy shows.
" (More at garreau.com) Another invaluable source is The Alamanac of American Politics
(2002) by Michael Barone and Richard Cohen- (More at nationaljournal.com/about).

*"Paul Revere's Ride", from Tales of a Wayside Inn (1861). Generations
of New England schoolchildren committed these verses to memory:

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, "if the British march
By land or by sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,-
One, if by land, and two, if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be.
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm"

Literary-historical question: How many lanterns were hung in the North Church belfry
on the night of the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five?

Local trivia question: How many Paul Revere-cast bells hang in Woodstock churches?

Please e-mail us your answers and comments! drsymmesbr@aol.com

D.R. Symmes & Associates

drsymmesbr@aol.com
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