The Walloomsac Inn

Our Journey starts in Old Bennington at the Walloomsac Inn. Built in 1764 by the first settled minister of Bennington’s Old First Church, the Rev. Jedediah Dewey. It’s original structure still stands today. The Inn sticks out like a sore thumb and is one of the first things you notice coming into Old Bennington from New York on Route 9. The Inn operated until around 1996. Several famous people have stayed in the Walloomsac including President Rutherford B. Hayes and President Benjamin Harrison. The Inn is a historical landmark and is still inhabited by descendants of the Berry family who have owned it since 1891. The Berry sisters live in just one section of the structure that is still inhabitable. The instructions left by the family is that no one is to change the building or perform renovations. I would love to see the inside, but rumor has it that the Berry sisters are not very welcoming of visitors.

For a map on how to find the Walloomsic Inn click this link. https://goo.gl/maps/WviTFa45vR7K2fcU8

Haunted Farm Barn

On to North Bennington for the Haunted Farm Barn. The barn is located at the corner of Mechanic Street and George Street not far off route 7A. Besides the haunted barn story that was told to me by a nearby resident, I couldn’t find any information at all about the barn except for the owner’s name. Legend has it that a Green Mountain Boy (Vermont militia group established in 1770) committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Locals say there have been reports of loud gunshots and the barn lighting up inside due to the gunpowder flash. People who have witnessed this believe it’s the ghost of the Green Mountain Boy that committed suicide.

“When the legend becomes the fact print the legend” (John Ford)

For a map on how to find the Haunted Farm Barn click this link. https://goo.gl/maps/FYsg6w2FjgpEceA89

Old Bennington High School

Our next stop is The Old Bennington High School in Bennington’s downtown area, on the north side of Main Street, Vermont Route 9. This was Bennington’s second high school and was built in 1914. The original high school was built around 1875 and was over its capacity by 1909 so a new school was needed. It served as a high school until 1967 and after additions in 1975 it reopened as Mount Anthony Middle School. The school closed in 2004.  

I find it very interesting that there are separate entrances for boys and girls. Single-sex segregation was common in the United States until the 19^th Century. Educators felt that males and females learn differently so they were kept separate but in the same school.

I find the sign on the front door odd “No expectation of privacy justified”. It comes from the Fourth Amendment, but I have never seen it displayed in this way before.

For a map on how to find the Old Bennington High School click this link. https://goo.gl/maps/6VgbTeyizgkmtFj66

State Line Lunch Diner

From Bennington up Route 7A through the town of Arlington then down Route 313 at the VT/NY border we have the abandoned State Line Lunch Diner. Except for one Yelp review there is absolutely no information online about this place. The Yelp review is from 2010 with the reviewer giving the diner five stars. The Diner was a greasy spoon that served up breakfast and lunch. Like so many diners around the area the food was cheap, and they only took cash. I was able to peek inside and besides a little bit of trash everything on the inside is still intact. The outside isn’t doing as well. The diner sits right on the state line as the name implies. You can see the Welcome to Vermont sign in my first photo.

For a map on how to find the State Line Lunch Diner click this link. https://goo.gl/maps/gtHaJz4fP27kyLm36

Moon Wink Motel

Our Journey ends not far across the Vermont border into New York, and through the town of Hoosick Falls back over to Route 7 in Pittstown. The Moon Wink Motel could be the setting for a great horror movie. It’s a place that nightmares are made of. I did not dare to enter any of the rooms and just stuck my camera in the openings for some of my photos. A friend that has lived in the area for over 50 years told me that the motel closed to the public about 25 years ago and after that was a hangout for vagrants. The only historical information I have is that the motel opened in 1959 and the owner died of a heart attack three years later. Nowadays there is evidence of squatters and drug users. I admit that I was very nervous and was afraid that I would encounter someone. 

For a map on how to find the Moon Wink Motel click this link. https://goo.gl/maps/R5KqpLvvFzHzsttY7

The idea for this project came about from an assignment for my drawing class. The assignment was to draw an abandoned urban structure. There are not many urban structures in southern Vermont. I remembered driving past a creepy abandoned motel just across the Vermont border in New York and decided to use it for my drawing. This motel is the Moon Wink. I took about 60 photos and it was hard to decide on just a few to use for this project.

I am the type of person that likes to get in my car and just drive without having a destination in mind. As I drive the scenic backroads, I always seem to notice abandoned structures. I have a vivid imagination and always wonder what they were like when they were still being used or how long they have been left to deteriorate. I wonder about ghosts and hauntings and other nefarious thoughts.

I edited my photos by adjusting the hue and saturation, applying dodge and burn techniques, converting to monochrome, and minimal cropping. I tried to progressively get darker with each set of photos. Starting out with bright colorful photos then adding sepia tones and finally ending with black and white photos for the Moon Wink Motel.  I think the sepia tones work well with the diner. The B+W photos of the motel add another level of creepiness for me. B+W would have worked well for the Walloomsac but since part of it is still occupied, I thought that color photos would represent the little bit of life that still occupies the Inn.

The good thing is that I can continue to expand on this project. The bad thing is that with the impact of Covid-19 on the economy there will be many more abandoned structures in the future to photograph. 

Bibliography

“Historic Structures.” Bennington Museum | Vermont History and Art. 19 Jan. 2021. Web. 26 Apr. 2021. https://benningtonmuseum.org/historic-structures/

“Old Bennington High School.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Apr. 2021. Web. 26 Apr 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Bennington_High_School

Rich, Motoko. “Old Tactic Gets New Use: Public Schools Separate Girls and Boys.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Dec. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/education/single-sex-education-public-schools-separate-boys-and-girls.html

“Katz and the Adoption of the Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Test: Constitution Annotated: Congress.gov: Library of Congress.” Constitution Annotated. Web. 26 Apr. 2021. https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt4_2_2_2/

“State Line Diner – CLOSED – Arlington, VT.” Yelp. Web. 26 Apr. 2021. https://www.yelp.com/biz/state-line-diner-arlington