Academia    Talking about my academic life, I realize these postings under "Academia" are in reality serving as a de facto lifetime memoir, since I got my last academic degree in 1980 (on August 8th, according to the Middlebury DML diploma on my wall) at age 40, just 24 days before turning 41, but completed my final academic study period in 1990 (on August 24th, according to my Málaga Spanish transcript) at age 50, just eight days before turning 51.
As I recently reviewed my academic life, I've found I can break it down into phases, different from what I would have thought otherwise. As most people who did go to college probably would, I considered the first phase as elementary thru High School, then came college and onward. I've now reorganized my thoughts.
Because Queens College is a commuter school, while I got an excellent education there, living at home, I don't feel I got the "college experience" there that people got who went away to school. Reflecting back, it seems more like it was an extension of high school. I'm therefore now considering my First Academic period as being the free education I got from the City of New York from age 5 (?) thru age 21 (BA Jan 1961).

FIRST ACADEMIC PERIOD   (1945?-Jan 1961) elementary school (including enriched Advanced Reading classes AR4, AR5, AR6); Junior High (SP7 & SP9: 3 years' work covered in 2); Brooklyn Technical HS (7 semesters, extended from 6 because of additional requirements not covered in Junior High 9th grade); Queens College of the City University of New York (4 years).

SECOND ACADEMIC PERIOD    This encompassed the fabulous MC60s years, the most fun I ever had in college.
(1) 3 summers on the Middlebury College campus in Vermont: 1959 GerBA; 1960 SpanBA; 1961 GerMA. The first two summers, in Ger and Span, transferred credit to QC as part of my BA degree and thus overlapped with the QC time. The third was fully graduate time, a start at my Middlebury MA degree in German, which continued in Middlebury-at-Mainz.
(2) one academic year (10 months), 1961-1962 - Middlebury study program to complete the MA at the University of Mainz.
(3) one full year (12 months, including the summer session), 1963-1964 Columbia University in NYC, including its Teachers College.

THIRD ACADEMIC PERIOD    While this centered upon our doctoral work at MC70s, it started much earlier, within the framework of ten study programs we took part in between 1967 and 1990. These took place in Europe and North America, in several different languages.
(1) Eight short-term study programs took place between 1967 and 1974 (more later).
(2a) MC70s: Three six-week summers (1975-1976-1977) of regular graduate doctoral coursework at the Middlebury campus in Vermont.
(2b) MC70s: Three summers on campus for short periods: 1978 German doctoral oral exam; 1979 French doctoral oral exam; 1980 graduation ceremony.
(3) Two final short-term study programs, as in (1). The last formal academic lifetime study we ever did was in 1990, eight weeks, or two wonderful summer months living in Málaga, Spain, the longest we ever lived abroad other than the Mainz year.

Enthusiasm & Bonding    Of those ten short-term venues, I remain particularly enthusiastic about two, our experience in Málaga, the eight weeks in 1990, as just mentioned, and also our time at the University of Vienna, three weeks in 1971. (More to follow.)
Of the long-term venues I studied at I can say this. I loved being in Mainz, and in our local area of Mainz-Gonsenheim. But I never bonded with the University of Mainz itself, and remember very little about it. My bonding with Queens College remains weak, because it was a commuter school without the "college experience". Oddly, it's the same with Columbia. Despite the fact that it's a prestigious Ivy League school, and that I enjoyed my time there, it was another commuter school for me, since I traveled daily by subway from our newlyweds' apartment in Wakefield in the Bronx. Unfortunately, I feel little bonding to Columbia.
I remain enthusiastic about, and bond with once again, two venues, Brooklyn Tech, which I think became clear by my comments in 2025/5-6-7.
As for my "college days", my enthusiasm and bonding go to Middlebury, but that requires an explanation, as I divide my time there in two, which were quite different. I must specify MC60s, which were three wonderful summers. On the other hand, MC70s, while just as academically stimulating, were emotionally disappointing, which I will clarify later.
I know that, in my enthusiasm, I've been repeating stories, and that certainly includes Middlebury. In 2011/23, there is a very good summary of later visits to Middlebury Village and Middlebury College that year. It also mentions getting there on one visit on the Ethan Allan Express, then flying home; how Vassar professor Lillian Stroebe founded the Middlebury German School in 1915; and mentions my hearing Robert Frost in person as he gave a talk. If you wish, take a fresh look at that posting. However, I've picked out a few goodies which I will repeat, and possibly expand, in new postings, as well as also updating other information. But this discussion will move in a different direction than the earlier one. We shall begin ab ovo "from the egg", earlier in time than ever before, say about twelve millennia.

Abenaki    This will be a surprise—something I just learned. Possibly going back 12,000 years, there were native Americans—or as the Canadians say, First Peoples, a term I like—living in what is today northern New England. They were the predecessors of the Abenaki, and European explorers in the 1500s and 1600s came in contact with them. The Abenaki language is part of the Algonquian language group (click) (Map by Noahedits). What is today Maine is where Eastern Abenaki was spoken, while Western Abenaki was spoken in southern Québec, New Hampshire, and—aha—Vermont (17C-era Maps by Nikater).
Historically, Europeans settling North America, Australia, and Africa usurped what they found without respect to those who were there first, tho in modern times, that is changing. I'm very pleased to say that Middlebury launched a pilot School of Abenaki in 2020, with the first (abbreviated) session taking place in the summer of 2021. UNESCO considers Abenaki to be extinct, but Middlebury initiated the (Western) Abenaki language program to support the revitalization of this endangered language and honor the remaining Abenaki community, recognizing the importance of cultural preservation and education. Laurie Patton, who then was Middlebury College President, said about the program, "We want to recognize and honor the people on whose land Middlebury is making its home". The pilot program was shorter than the other language programs, running for only two weeks in the summer. The program is free for Abenaki people, making it accessible to the community.
This is a short sample of Abenaki made in 1994, while this shows members of today's Abenaki community (0:53) celebrating their heritage at the Vermont statehouse in Montpelier.

Vermont & Green Mountains    I suspect we all know that Vermont is named for the Green Mountains, marked G here, that run north-south down its center (Map by Pfly & Hike395). Well, they're not actually centered, worth noting since we'll be concentrating on the narrower strip of western Vermont to their left side.
The name Vermont, better explained in French Wikipedia than in English (tho still very awkwardly so) dates from 1609, when Samuel de Champlain, exploring what is now Lake Champlain, was impressed by how heavily wooded these montagnes vertes were, and on his map of 1647, used the term Vert Mont which is "Green Mount". That's particularly odd for several reasons. Why did he not use montagnes, the regular word for "mountains"? Why did he not at least use the plural Monts Verts? Why did he not use normal French word order, Mont Vert? Today, the French name of the Green Mountains is, logically, Montagnes Vertes and contrasts with the name Vermont. It's a puzzlement.

https://www.maps-of-the-usa.com/maps/usa/vermont/large-detailed-roads-and-highways-map-of-vermont-state-with-all-cities.jpg

Hold on to this modern map of Vermont and let's explore (click) that western strip to the left of the mountains. Start at the bottom at Bennington, with its Battle Monument. We're on US 7, the principal artery coming up from CT and MA and reaching to Canada. Note Rutland; Lake Dunmore, where in MC60s, the entire German school did a beachside outing and swimming each summer; Ripton, where Robert Frost lived and I heard him speak; local highway 125 connects to US7 leading into Middlebury; they separate and 125 then crosses Otter Creek and becomes College Street on campus, then leads down to Lake Champlain; Bristol is where the German School was revived in 1931; we see Montpelier, the state capital off to the east, which, at about 8,000, is the smallest capital city by population in the US; we then come to Burlington, Vermont's most populous city at 44,743, which is, by population, the smallest US city to be the largest city within a state. Obviously, when picturing Vermont, picture small. To the north is Saint Albans, in the area of the Lake Champlain islands and the gateway to Canada.

European Colonies    The Eastern US then was settled by the British-cum-Americans. We're all familiar with the Thirteen British Colonies that became the US, but what was number 14, the first state to join after the US was founded? That was Vermont, sort of, because it had been included earlier in a way we don't usually consider. Note this map:

https://newycolony.weebly.com/uploads/4/6/9/4/46948941/996504944.jpg?410

What became Vermont was early on part of the Province of New York. This is also shown in this map of the Province of Pennsylvania, where New York in green reaches east to include what became Vermont, and in this map of the Province of New York itself (Both Maps by Kmusser). However this last one adds further information: the same area was also claimed by the Province of New Hampshire on the other side. To some extent, the claims reached to the centrally located Green Mountains, but that is NOT definitive.
Therefore, when the four New York representatives signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, technically, the land that later became at least eastern Vermont was included, but this technicality is not usually pointed out since it would be too confusing.
In 1749, governor Benning Wentworth of the Province of New Hampshire began to auction land in what is now Vermont in what became known as the New Hampshire Grants. The first of his grants included the town he named after himself, Bennington (see map). However, those who purchased New Hampshire Grants were in conflict with New York, which began selling off the same land in the form of land patents. Then in 1764, King George III proclaimed the territory to be under the jurisdiction of New York, which meant that the New Hampshire Grant landowners did not have legal title after all. Meanwhile, New York continued to sell large tracts of land, many of which overlapped tracts that were already inhabited.
One of the New Hampshire Grants, Middlebury was chartered by New Hampshire Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth on 2 November 1761, three years before the king declared the area to be New York. Whoops.
The name "Middlebury" came from its location between two flyspeck towns: to the north (see map, tho neither is named) is New Haven, on route 17 between US 7 and Bristol and to the south is Salisbury, a New Hampshire Grant on US 7 at the north end of Lake Dunmore. It's amazing how that "middleness" was so important back in the day, but no longer.

https://www.nysarchivestrust.org/application/files/2516/0701/4120/NYSA_A0448-79_V1_p1_representation_49019_original.jpg

I'm beyond delighted to have found this 1788 map of the counties of what was by now being called the State (not Province) of New York. One shock is that most of central and western New York has no counties at all yet. Instead there are references to First Nations, such as "Country of the Mohawks" and several others. The actual counties are in the east, in the Hudson and Champlain valleys (and on LI). All these counties still exist, tho in the north all three have been greatly reduced in size having since produced other counties. Our area of interest is Albany County, which wraps around Massachusetts, plus Washington and Clinton Counties. All three border, not New Hampshire, but vaguely the New Hampshire Grants.

Now on our main map, compare Ticonderoga NY with Middlebury, then judge that distance on the 1788 map, and you'll see that the New Hampshire Grant of Middlebury would have been considered to be located in Clinton County, New York—at least for a few years. Today, it's in Addison County, Vermont.

Earlier that year of the battle, on 15 January 1777, representatives of 28 towns of the New Hampshire Grants declared the independence of what they called the Vermont Republic from the British colonies of Québec, New Hampshire, and New York. For its first six months was called the Republic of New Connecticut. Later that year, on 2 June, a second convention met and adopted the name "Vermont".
These were the borders claimed by the Vermont Republic (Map by Pubhouseburly). Dark green shows Vermont today with the Connecticut River as its eastern border with NH. Light green represents Vermont's briefly claimed counties of "West Union" and "East Union", which were never annexed. "West Union" included the area in New York down to the Hoosic River where the Battle was fought. "East Union" is even more interesting. This map shows the Connecticut River, the longest in New England, flowing southward for 653 km (406 mi). The river was named first, from First Nations words. The colony-cum-state where it empties into Long Island Sound was named after it. Follow the route upstream thru Massachusetts. The river then forms the entire border between VT and NH. North of dam #17, the river is entirely in NH to the point where it rises 270 m (300 yards) south of the border with Québec. Now refer back to the map showing the claimed county of "East Union", which is today the entire NH shoreline of the river. It's obvious that the Vermont Republic was defining itself by the river, which also explains why the early temporary name was "New Connecticut". That was not a reference to the state, but to the "new" part of the river here in the north.
The Vermont Republic was a de facto, totally unrecognized, independent state in New England that existed for over fourteen years. It continued to govern itself as a sovereign entity based in the eastern town of Windsor, whose location on the river further indicates the attempt to identify eastward, with the river.

The Vermont Republic operated a national postal service, and issued its own coinage from 1785 to 1788. This is the front and back of one of the 1785 copper coins. The writing is in Latin; the front does translate to Vermont Republic, but the back is a curiosity, since it says "fourteenth star", apparently a reference to the thirteen US states. Is this an early hint that it wanted to join the US?
Because the state of New York continued to assert that Vermont was a part of New York, Vermont could not be admitted to the Union under Article IV, Section 3 of the US Constitution until the legislature of New York consented. On 6 March 1790, the legislature made its consent contingent upon a negotiated agreement on the precise boundary between the two states. The negotiations were successfully concluded in October 1790, and in January 1791, a convention in Vermont voted 105–4 to petition the US Congress to become a state. Congress acted on 18 February 1791 to admit Vermont to the Union as the 14th state as of 4 March 1791. Thus Vermont became the first state to enter the Union after the original 13 states, with the constitution and laws of the Vermont Republic continuing in effect after admission.
Again, Middlebury was chartered in 1761 (the first settlers came in 1766), so Middlebury predates both the 1777 Vermont Republic and 1791 State of Vermont.

Otter Creek    Let's continue with some physical geography here on the western side of the Green Mountains. This is Otter Creek, at 180 km (112 mi), the longest river entirely within Vermont. Confining itself west of the mountains, it flows north from southern Vermont, crosses Middlebury, and enters Lake Champlain (Map by Rchillyard). On this map, Middlebury is in the center of Addison County, the one that just borders the bottom of Lake Champlain.

Middlebury Village    The village of Middlebury is the main settlement in the surrounding town[ship] of Middlebury, but continue to think "Vermont petite". At the 2020 census, the village population was 7,304 out of a total town population of 9,152. The village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Middlebury Village Historic District. As a big-city boy, I always appreciated the contrast to the petite size of the village.
After (again) its chartering in 1761 and settling in 1766, the first map of Middlebury Village I find online is this, from 1857, almost a century later:

https://i.etsystatic.com/7424753/r/il/9f6a3f/3114868651/il_1080xN.3114868651_4y89.jpg

I never found a modern map of Middlebury as good as this, plus the following other 19C map, but the town layout has not changed that much and we can learn a lot from these two maps. (The modern map I have is only of the very center of town.) Click to see how Otter Creek bisects the downtown. And therein lies a tale. As many times as I've walked over the Main Street Bridge, tho I was aware of Otter Creek below, I don't think I thought of Otter Creek Falls, also known as Middlebury Falls, right off the north side of the bridge. It wasn't until my return visit in 2011 that I had time to go down below and take a good look at the area known quaintly as Frog Hollow (details in 2011/23). But this is the view from below of the Main Street Bridge with Otter Creek Falls below (Photo by Jd4508 & Pauk). In addition, this is a very short YouTube clip (0:12) of the falls from above, as seen from the bridge.
But to my surprise, there's more to it than just having spectacular water falling in town. I now learn that the waterfall is why Middlebury Village was founded at this point in Otter Creek in the first place, since industries developed that were driven by water power, such as sawmills, gristmills, and paper mills, and other industries such as a marble quarry.
I've also just learned that a pivotal figure in founding Middlebury College I've known about for some time was first a pivotal figure in founding and developing Middlebury Village. Live and learn.
That figure was Gamaliel Painter, originally of New Haven, Connecticut (Gamaliel—no surprise, given the 19C era--was a biblical figure). Painter's first wife, Abigail (née Chipman; note Chipman Hill later), was the sister of John Chipman, the first settler of Middlebury in 1767. At her prompting, the Painters themselves moved from New Haven to Middlebury in 1773.
Formed in 1785, Addison County had, at first, no permanent county seat. Tiny West Addison near Lake Champlain looked like a prime contender, tho Middlebury was certainly more centrally located. Soon after deciding to move to his property at Middlebury Falls, the canny Painter decided to tip the scales a little in favor of his intended town. He deeded a lot near his own house and fronting on the line of Pleasant Street, to the County for a village green, and his persuasion seems to have worked. In 1790 Middlebury was proclaimed shire town of the County.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66b965b22c6bab56c4d788ae/c141f37d-e5d0-4e19-903b-d2b4f2677169/Parking-Map.png

Look at our period map of Middlebury and find where Court Street and Pleasant Street converge at Court Square (the Court House was at the east end). Now compare that with this (detailed) modern map to see how little has changed. Painter built his house in 1802 where Court Street enters the square, at that northeast corner, and it's still there today. You can see how close the triangular Village Green is on Pleasant Street.

Painter served in numerous roles: a soldier, jurist, sheriff, and State Representative. He served as a Member of the Constitutional Convention, in Windsor, Vermont, in 1777. He purchased 50 acres (20 ha) along Otter Creek at the northern edge of the falls, where he built a sawmill in 1787 and a gristmill by 1788. Already in 1793, a resident reported some sixty-two buildings, mostly log, at Middlebury Falls (or Painter’s Mills, as the village was informally known).
Painter also sold—or donated--smaller plots of land for public buildings. In 1791, he deeded a lot to the County "For the only expressed purpose and use of a Common", which became the Village Green. The small detail map shows this was just a block away from his home.
In 1794, he deeded a lot to the county for the courthouse at the east end of Court Square (see old map) and one for the Congregational church on Main & Pleasant, facing the Green's north side.

Much of the village northeast of the creek was built upon Painter’s mill lot, and its early quality and character were due to his efforts and those of the men he cannily drew to Middlebury Falls. Painter had become sheriff of Addison County in 1786, and as sheriff it was his prerogative to establish the location of the stocks "in the most public place in each respective town" — the town center. Painter placed Middlebury’s stocks and whipping post in the area adjacent to his mills on what is now the Village Green, which, as mentioned, he formally deeded to the town in 1791.
On the modern map, find the iconic Middlebury Inn on the north side of Court Square (it also faces the Village Green). Then on the old map, find Addison House in the same spot. Note how Court Street is a convenient route to the south. Back in the day, it was also called Centre Turnpike. Now let's put all this together.
To serve as a focus for travelers entering the town on the old Centre Turnpike (Court Street) is what is now Middlebury Inn, a member of Historic Hotels of America. Painter had deeded this prime site for the construction of a tavern, which eventually became the Vermont House, a grand three-story brick building with fifty rooms. Since its opening on 16 April 1827, the inn has changed its name twice (Vermont House 1827–1852; Addison House 1852–1927; Middlebury Inn 1927–present—it's odd how the name has moved from state to county to town. It's been Victorianized and un-Victorianized (1851, 1865, 1897, 1927), and grown considerably. For all the changes, however, the building has a continuous history of service to the town as its principal inn and a favorite meeting spot. During my MC60s time, groups of us often went there for an evening of beer and singing, and I finally got to stay a couple of nights at the Inn when I came to visit in 2011 (more on both later). Below is Middlebury Inn from Court Square. The façade on the left faces the Village Green.

https://phgcdn.com/images/uploads/BTVMI/overviewimages/1600x813-Exterior-Middlebury-Inn-Middlebury-Vermont.jpg

Painter was one of the people who, in 1800, obtained a charter for Middlebury College from the Vermont General Assembly, making it the first operating college in Vermont, with Painter as its greatest early benefactor. In 1810, he deeded land for, and presided over the construction of, the first building at the College, called at first West College, built between 1812 and 1816. Upon his death in 1819, he left most of his estate, $13,000, to the College. In recognition of his gift, West College was renamed Painter Hall (shown, but unnamed, on the old map). Painter Hall is the oldest college building extant in Vermont (more later).
Keep the name Painter in mind. Middlebury full-year graduates (I personally call them "Winter People", with Language School grads being "Summer People"), in addition to receiving a diploma upon graduation, also receive a replica of Gamaliel Painter's cane. Painter bequeathed his original cane to the college and it is carried by the college President at official occasions including first-year convocation and graduation. I now have one as well (more later).
[Speaking for the moment about the "Winter People", I'm very pleased to say that Middlebury College abolished fraternities in the early 1990s. I'm a firm believer that students' loyalty should be to the Alma Mater, and not to a group of immature, boozing, prank-playing dudes.]
The "old" map we've been using is from 1857, and now we have one from 1876, which shows a bit more.

https://i.etsystatic.com/11154388/r/il/6fe320/2644862684/il_fullxfull.2644862684_cagx.jpg

Court Square and the Village Green are easier to spot. As Main Street crosses the bridge to the west bank, the little park at its center begins to stand out. West of that, South Street takes off from Main Street, as Main goes over to West Cemetery, also known as Middlebury Cemetery, where Gamaliel Painter is buried:

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7a0da508e4e2019ee23004/fa9ff0b2-d117-4572-93ce-5f6d2b066876/7456000_123813393821.jpg

But the most important route to my mind hadn't been fully formed at this point. North of a "Graded School", an 1867 elementary school belonging to the town, is Academy Street, zigzagging to Green Street. In the future, this zigzag will be straightened out and the whole road renamed College Street, to my mind the primary street in the College, leading west to Lake Champlain and New York State.
But most revealing is this early map of the Middlebury College campus. Earlier we saw two buildings, but now we see all three of the historic Old Stone Row. In the middle is the Chapel, built 1834-1836, now called Old Chapel and of administrative use. The two dormitories were originally named West College and East College, but as we know, West College, built first in 1812-1816, was renamed Painter Hall thanks to his financial support. Only some decades later in 1865, when more space was sorely needed so that many students wouldn't have to live in town and commute, the Starr family financed East College, which was then renamed Starr Hall for them. Old Stone Row is on the National Register of Historic Places, along with the large hillside green behind it.

https://www.old-maps.com/vermont/vt_1814_Doolittle_pastel_strip_web.jpg

Roads    I know little about the colonial-era roads in the area, but have to assume there were primitive ones in many directions. The above map, however, does show one that we might expect. Click on Addison County to find Middlebury (misspelled as Middleburg) next to Cornwall County (misspelled as Cornwell) from a time when it still reached eastward to Otter Creek. We do see a main north-south road thru Middlebury, which does seem as a precursor to current Route 7. (I understand that, in the early 20C, New England had a local numbering system and this was NE Route 4, but when the US highway was established in 1926, it became US 7.)
Comparing the modern detail map, we see that Route 7 today does come south into town on North Pleasant Street, then circles Court Square in its entirety, leaving south out of Court Street. But more important for our 19C period of interest is a route that went neither north to Burlington and beyond, nor south to Rutland and beyond. Care to guess the long-distance destination of the above-mentioned new connection, the Centre Turnpike?

https://www.old-maps.com/vermont/vt_towns/AddisonCo/Postr_Middleb_1871_1824-1-wb.jpg

First let's look at this 1871 regional map of Addison County and see what looks different. First, it shows that the west bank of Otter Creek is no longer part of Cornwall County, but is instead part of Middlebury Village. We see the three roads going past the College. Northeast of town we see the aforementioned Chipman Hill (old name, Chipman's Hill). Painter's first wife Abigail was the sister of John Chipman, one of the first Middlebury settlers, which is why the Painters moved to Middlebury in the first place. The hill has special memories for me.

Now look at the state map again and find VT Route 125. Going west, it's College Street to New York, but going east it's the same as US 7 south until East Middlebury (not named), then, after Ripton, it crosses the Green Mountains via Middlebury Gap (not named, but Brandon Gap is). Vermont is one place where a mountain pass is called a "gap", and this one is 653 m (2,142 ft). On the other side, locate for the moment Woodstock.
The Vermont Legislature chartered the Centre Turnpike on 4 November 1800. Notable incorporators included Gamaliel Painter and Daniel Chipman, a member of the Chipman family, who served as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, was a charter trustee of Middlebury College, and was a professor of law at the College. The construction began in 1808 and was completed around 1814, costing about $208,000. The route began in Middlebury, and the corresponding stagecoach route began behind the Courthouse on Court Square. Now follow on the Chipman Hill map. The route then went down what is now Court Street to East Middlebury (today, 125 aligns with 7), then swung via Ripton to cross Middlebury Gap and on to Woodstock, where it connected with other stagecoach routes to Boston, a major reason for building the route.

https://whackingfattiesfish.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maps/fishing-report-map-Middlebury-River-Vermont.jpg

The Gap Route    For now, Now look at the state map again and find VT Route 125. Going west, it's College Street to New York, but going east it's the same as US 7 south until East Middlebury (not named), then, after Ripton, it crosses the Green Mountains via Middlebury Gap (not named, but Brandon Gap is). Vermont is one place where a mountain pass is called a "gap", and this one is 653 m (2,142 ft). On the other side, locate for the moment Woodstock.
The Vermont Legislature chartered the Centre Turnpike on 4 November 1800. Notable incorporators included Gamaliel Painter and Daniel Chipman, a member of the Chipman family, who served as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, was a charter trustee of Middlebury College, and was a professor of law at the College. The construction began in 1808 and was completed around 1814, costing about $208,000. The route began in Middlebury, and the corresponding stagecoach route began behind the Courthouse on Court Square. Now follow on the Chipman Hill map. The route then went down what is now Court Street to East Middlebury (today, 125 aligns with 7), then swung via Ripton to cross Middlebury Gap and on to Woodstock, where it connected with other stagecoach routes to Boston, a major reason for building the route.

https://whackingfattiesfish.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maps/fishing-report-map-Middlebury-River-Vermont.jpg

Let's forget Boston while we'll keep our attention locally to just crossing Middlebury Gap. There is actually a Middlebury River (above) coming down from the Gap via Ripton and East Middlebury. It enters Otter Creek within Middlebury Town[ship] I believe, tho not in the Village. The old Centre Turnpike followed the small river up to the Gap, as does today's Route 125.
We now refer back to our old friend from Cornwall, John Foote (or Foot), who began the development of the area of the Middlebury River Gorge. This included East Middlebury, whose situation was considered encouraging by its location at the west end of the Centre Turnpike over the Green Mountains as it entered into the Otter Creek Valley. The earliest settlement in East Middlebury dates from 1775 when land was cleared for the construction of a tavern. In 1810, Jonathan Foote modified that into what is now called the Waybury Inn. The pass to the east had opened as a toll road (turnpike) in 1808, and Foote sought to capitalize on the traffic it would bring of stagecoach passengers pausing for a night before the arduous trek over the mountain (or arriving). However, the turnpike never brought a high volume of traffic.
Beverly and I once stopped at the Waybury Inn for a very enjoyable dinner, and on my 2011 return, I spent the night there (Photo by NRavenel). It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Waybury Inn was also used as a location for exterior shots on the Bob Newhart television series, Newhart from 1982 to 1990. Called the Stratford Inn in the show, the Waybury Inn was painted white just for it. After the show went off the air, the inn was repainted green to once again match the nearby Green Mountains.

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As we continue up toward the gap, we first reach Ripton, well-known locally for the home of Robert Frost. Just 5 km (3 mi) beyond town is the Robert Frost Wayside, which leads inland to the Robert Frost Farm, a National Historic Landmark. Frost lived and wrote here in the summer and fall months for almost a quarter-century, from 1939 until his death in 1963. The property includes a 19C farmhouse and a rustic wooden writing cabin where Frost often stayed (Photo by Aiken1986). It's open to the public; I've been to the cabin but have not toured it. The property is now owned by Middlebury College, and for good reason beyond Frost being famous. Here's why.
On the Ripton/Frost map above, locate Bread Loaf mountain; I assume its name is based on its shape. This is a view eastward from Otter Creek to Bread Loaf mountain (Photo by Aiken1986). One side drains to the Connecticut River, while the other side drains to Otter Creek and Lake Champlain. The Long Trail, a 438-km (272-mi) hiking trail running the length of Vermont, crosses the SE flank of Bread Loaf Mountain. (A spur path leads to the actual summit.) The trail then crosses Middlebury Gap (see Ripton/Frost map). But all that just gets us to the unusual name.
Within the town[ship] of Ripton, and two minutes by car east of the Robert Frost Wayside (see map), is the unincorporated community (read: flyspeck village) of Bread Loaf, the location of Middlebury's Bread Loaf School of English & Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.

https://bpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.middlebury.edu/dist/0/5408/files/2022/05/map-j.jpg

Since 1920, summer graduate programs of the Bread Loaf School of English have focused on literature, writing, and theater, leading to an MA. This is the main campus, with branches in California and at Lincoln College of Oxford University. The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, founded in 1926, is an author's conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn. Bread Loaf was closely associated with Robert Frost, who, living in nearby Ripton, is credited as being a major influence on the school. Frost first came in 1921 and returned every summer with three exceptions for 42 years.
On the above campus map, I believe "Main Road" refers to Route 125, which the historic Bread Loaf Inn faces. Once, in 1961, with me not knowing exactly where we were going to "hear Frost speak", a group of German School students drove up to Bread Loaf. We didn't go into the Inn, but sneaked in to what must have been the barn, used as a large lecture hall, and stood in the back. I just got a long-distance view of Frost at the podium, lecturing, but at least I saw and heard him. He died a year and a half later.

Rail in Middlebury    I want to talk about rail in Middlebury, not only because I like rail, and not only because it was important in local development, but also because the view from a Rutland Railroad coach is what jump-started the German School in 1915, which was quickly followed by French in 1916 and Spanish in 1917.
The Rutland & Burlington Railroad first arrived in 1849. Later the name was shortened to the Rutland Railway (RUT). This is a map of the RUT's route and connections in 1899. It was located primarily in Vermont but extended into New York state at both its northernmost and southernmost ends. Coming down from Burlington, find Middlebury. Then at the hub of Rutland, routes split to serve both sides of the Green Mountains. The main line went in the direction of Boston, while a branch served the Bennington area.
In 1953, a three-week strike by employees led to the permanent discontinuation of passenger service, so visitors could no longer get to Middlebury by rail. Then financial difficulties led to the closure or the RUT in 1961. Much of the route was then abandoned, but the State of Vermont in 1963 bought 207.0 km (128.6 mi), consisting of the main line from Burlington to Rutland, plus the branch from Rutland to Bennington, making it uniquely a N-S route in western Vermont. It then leased it to a new operator, the Vermont Railway (VTR), which continues to operate the line.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/73/b2/2e/73b22ecaa529088b2c0571459548c378--vermont-maps.jpg

VTR continued to expand, and in 1982, VTR repaid the state of Vermont for the trackage the state had bought in 1964 to allow VTR to begin operations. A year later, VTR bought 38.1 km (23.7 mi) of track between Rutland and Whitehall NY (shown, but not marked on the above map) from the Delaware & Hudson Railway (D&H). The track was severely deteriorated at the time of purchase, with track speeds as low as 10 km/h (6 mph) over the entire line. The line was upgraded to higher standards, and Whitehall has become a major interchange point between VTR and D&H (now part of the Canadian Pacific Railway). Most importantly for this E-W connection, since 1996, Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express has been operating on the Rutland-Whitehall section. I've ridden it just this far, to Rutland.

https://www.trainsandtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/MAP-ethan-allen-express.gif

Sadly, this route to Rutland is the closest I've ever gotten to Middlebury by rail, on a visit in 2011. Notice the importance of the Whitehall-Rutland connection (Fair Haven was then the first stop on the Vermont side.)

https://www.bts.gov/sites/bts.dot.gov/files/inline-images/May2024NTADGraphic_EthanAllenExpress.png

But "after my time", in 2022, the Ethan Allen Express was extended from Rutland to Burlington, and passenger rail service returned to Middlebury. But not with me on board.
[Castleton VT has replaced Fair Haven VT, and is slightly east. Note that Middlebury (MBY!) is one of only two stops between Rutland and Burlington. This last map also shows the mountains very well.]

Look again at the 1857 town map and follow the N-S route, just eight years after its founding, of what is labeled the Rutland [&] Burlington Rail Road, since it connected those two cities to the south and to the north. South of where the route cuts thru the Village Green, find Cross Street, and to its left, the words "RR Station". Initially, trains were served by a passenger and freight depot at this location. But the freight depot burned down in 1871 and was rebuilt on a more spacious site further north, on Seymour Street (of course, nothing shows there yet on the 1857 map). Checking the second town map from 1876, we see even more clearly the route cutting off a piece of the Village Green; then in the Cross Street area is the designation "Old Depot Grounds"; but up at Seymour, north of the grade crossing we see the relocated freight depot.
Then the passenger depot burned in 1889 and was also replaced by a new one up on Seymour in 1891. So now let's estimate on the newer map where that would have been.

Middlebury Station    Coming south, note on both maps where the tracks crossed Seymour Street on a grade crossing back in the day. Just north of that is where the station had been moved to (and is there again!). The freight depot went to the east of the tracks, and later, the passenger depot went west, but was subsequently moved when the grade crossing was removed, so both were on the east side.
In 1912, the grade crossing was replaced by the Seymour Street underpass north of the station (the tracks won!). Seymour had to be shifted like a question mark from its NW direction to lead to the underpass, so once past the station, east of the tracks, Seymour traffic now leads into another street. But otherwise, Seymour itself makes a left turn, goes under the tracks, and bends to the right to return to its NW route. But the remnant of its old route west of the tracks alongside the station area was renamed (oddly) Middle Seymour Street. I mention this because today's Middlebury Station (no station house) has flipped back to the west side of the tracks with a 30 Middle Seymour address. Let's jump ahead to today.
When rail came back to Middlebury (without me), there was the odd situation that the old station house still existed, but had been sold off when passenger rail service stopped. The route is still single-tracked, and the Middlebury station, MBY, is now just a covered platform to the west of the tracks--this view looks south, toward town (Photo by Adam Moss). Let's face it: it's a minor station for Amtrak, tho of more importance within Vermont. But it's unstaffed, has no Amtrak ticketing kiosks, no payphones, no ATM, no vending machines, and no restrooms. You'd better buy your ticket online and make whatever other arrangements you need. It seems so odd that the former station house is still on the east side, but a solid barrier separates it from the tracks.
It seems that substantial freight traffic is what keeps the single-track route busy, since the only passenger traffic is the Ethan Allen Express, which arrives NB from New York at 8:26pm and SB from Burlington at 10:11am.

As for the former station, note this:

https://ia803205.us.archive.org/7/items/historicmiddlebury_3735415652005_gen1999-71-07/3735415652005_gen1999-71-07.jpg

https://vermontintegratedarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Trackside-Depot-Jean-Terwilliger-historic-restoration.jpg

The first, undated, link shows east side of the station—the depot—which was built in 1891 and moved to a new foundation at its current location in 1911 during the underpass construction. It served as a Rutland Railway passenger and freight station until the late 1950s and is a contributing structure to the Middlebury Village Historic District. It had been thoughtlessly modified after its depot use ended, turning this classic late Victorian-style station into a drafty eyesore, but newer owners hired architects on a modest budget to restore the structure, which was completed in 2011, exactly one century after it had been moved from the west side of the tracks.
The second link is a view of the west side of the restored depot. The blue sign says "computer sales & service", and apparently other small businesses occupy the building today. They seem to have named the building Trackside Depot, which is fortunate so that the public knows what it was, tho it is no longer a depot, nor even trackside, given that fence behind it.

https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/gcdn/presto/2022/07/01/PBUR/341002fc-d459-450d-a657-c5c0a3672134-Middlebury_--_aerial.jpg?width=660&height=441&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp

https://railfanguides.us/vt/middlebury/MiddleburyVT104.jpg

These are two excellent aerial photos. The first looks south toward the Village. You can see today's Amtrak green-roofed station on the right of the tracks, with the brown-roofed Trackside Depot across from it, along with some outbuildings. It makes the old Seymour Street diversion very clear. It originally crossed the tracks in an X, but was diverted around the old station to go under the tracks in the foreground, then to rejoin its old route. The remaining section is now Middle Seymour, with Amtrak parking.
The second looks east with even better detail. You can see how Seymour was diverted into Elm Street to form the underpass, then returned to its route, leaving Middle Seymour on the Amtrak side.

Middlebury Tunnel    We've mentioned in passing the engineering feature that defined the Village Green, and noted that the route cut off a triangle from it, rather altering the look of downtown. For years, I believed the rail route went in a tunnel under the Green, but now I find it was actually an open cut, hard to tell because of a lot of shrubbery. I just learned that a recent major construction effort in Vermont enlarged that cut, roofed it over, and made it into what I always thought it had been, an actual tunnel, now called the Middlebury Tunnel. And the Green is now restored. The Middlebury Village Green was no longer the bottleneck it had been for rail in Western Vermont, neither freight nor passenger.

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This map of the entire construction site (in yellow) faces roughly west. You see Main Street defining one side of the Village Green and Merchants Row on the other. Prior to 2020, standing at Merchants Row looking north, you would have seen the railroad trench constructed in 1849 for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad, which cut through the western portion of the Village Green. The track was installed some 6m (20ft) below the surrounding land, requiring timber bridges (later ashlar stone) to be built over the trench on Main Street and Merchants Row; over time, these were raised three times for larger trains.
The construction seems to have started well south of the Green, curiously, right in the area where the old rail station once was. Approaching the Green (and beyond it) the trench was enlarged, but remains roofless. The new 110 m (360 ft) tunnel proper was built only under Merchants Row, the Green itself, and Main Street, so that those two bridges were no longer necessary. By lowering the rail bed by 1.2m (4ft), the project achieved a 6.4m (21 ft) vertical clearance, accommodating double-stack rail cars, enhancing rail transport. The construction site ended in the Seymour Street area, and we see again how Seymour Street itself was made into a question mark, looping under the tracks.

https://railfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/VTrans.jpg

This aerial view shows construction still underway. The tunnel under the Green itself is not yet done here, tho it looks like the two bridge areas have been roofed over. In the distance you can tell where Seymour USED TO cross the tracks at a grade crossing. The tunnel restored the Village Green to its original size, adding approximately 836 m² (9,000 ft²) more green space for recreation. During construction, Vermont Railway's daily freight trains were detoured around eastern Vermont.
Compared to big-city construction, this project might seem a little small—"Vermont petite"--but it's been one of the largest downtown transportation ventures ever coordinated by VTR. The tunnel and the new passenger rail platform on Middle Seymour were completed within budget. The tunnel construction cost $72 million, plus nearly $20 million for engineering and other costs. The platform cost a mere $1.5 million.
The first train went thru the tunnel on 18 September 2020, as part of a reopening celebration, tho the Middlebury Amtrak station wasn't completed and opened until 29 July 2022, when the Ethan Allen Express was extended from Rutland to Burlington.

https://vrs.us.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ribboncutting30-1024x683.jpg

This is the ribbon cutting on the inaugural day (with Covid mask). Note the "open cut" look up to where the tunnel under Merchants Row actually begins. An inaugural first train traveled thru the tunnel at 10:10 am to officially reopen the tunnel to thru rail traffic between Rutland and Burlington, even tho the new Middlebury Amtrak station was not yet built.
This YouTube video shows the Inaugural First Train. It's a special consist, not the Ethan Allan Express. The video is long at 7:17, so skim it. At 0:45 is the tunnel approach; 1:25 tunnel entrance (it seems so short!); 2:03 inserted aerial view of restored corner of Village Green (not yet replanted), where Merchants Row at bottom meets Main Street; 3:00 leaving the tunnel (with inserted aerial view); 6:50 approaching the former Middlebury stationhouse on the right, where the new Amtrak platform on the left won't appear for a couple of years.

Transportation    Tho never by train, I have connected with Middlebury once by bus, mostly by car, once by taxi (!), and even once by plane (!!!). It came about like this.
BUS My very first trip to Vermont in late June of 1959 at age 19 was very exciting. I was finally getting some courses I really wanted, and was spending a huge six weeks away from home alone for the first time. (The European trip in 1957 was different, not only shorter, but SD was leading the way.) It was costing me, as I recently rediscovered, a huge $350 for tuition, room, and board, and when I checked the transportation, I found that rail service had been discontinued six years earlier!
Thus I looked into intercity bus schedules and found Vermont Transit Lines (VTL), a bus carrier company serving New England, which I took to Middlebury. I find now it was founded in 1929, but in 1975, VTL was purchased by Greyhound Lines, becoming a subsidiary line.

I now find that, in 2008, Greyhound Lines reduced use of the Vermont Transit Lines brand, fully consolidating VTL routes into its operations timetable. But still, it's the Vermont Transit name that sticks in my mind. But time marches on, and today, Greyhound itself is a subsidiary of the German company that operates FlixBus in 45 countries, in Europe, N&S America, Asia, and Australia. I just checked for bus connections from NYC to Middlebury, and the best connection requires a transfer in Albany. You don't want to know about the three connections some of their buses require today. At least when I took it, it was direct.

https://newenglandtravelplanner.com/assets/vt_images/VTtranslinesRteJan%202024.jpg

The above is in regard to bus connections from NYC. For Vermonters traveling locally, a new intercity bus company was founded in 2013, Vermont Translines (map above). It mainly serves the US Route 7 corridor, then connects to Albany NY. This has the added advantage of serving SW Vermont, including Bennington, which the Ethan Allen Express does not.
Over the years, I've taken my share of intercity buses on occasion, both in Europe and North America. Still, I regret having had to take the bus in 1959 and missing out on arriving in Middlebury by rail.
CAR But most of the times it was traveling by car to and from Middlebury. That first summer, I got to know a guy studying in the German School named Ken Sommerman, who was from Long Island and had driven up. He wanted someone to go back with him and share driving expenses, so that's what I did, and he dropped me off in Hollis on the way. Ken was returning over several summers, I assume to get his MA, so I rode with him round trip for the next two summers, for a total of five times. Then during MC70s, Beverly and I drove round trip over all those years in our own car.
TAXI & PLANE That would seem to be the end of the story during our study years, but we did drive in and out of Middlebury to visit a couple of times after that, one being a quick day-trip visit out of New Hampshire on 10 September 2006. But by far, the most interesting visit turned out to be in 2011, when the round trip involved some train travel, two taxis, and a flight home. I talked about this in 2011/23, but I'll summarize the essentials, slightly edited.

https://www.trainsandtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/MAP-ethan-allen-express.gif

This is a repeat of the earlier map of the Ethan Allen Express when it still ended in Rutland, which I took on 25 August 2011 for a nine-day trip. Since it arrived after 9 PM, I knew I couldn't rent a car then and didn't want to spend the night in Rutland, so I had contacted Middlebury Transit, a taxi/limo service, to pick me up. As it turned out, this taxi ride ended up being a highlight of the whole trip (see Hugh Marlow below). After a local visit, since I couldn't rent a car in Middlebury, I took another taxi to Burlington Airport, and used the rental car I got there to cross into Canada, then visit New Hampshire, Maine, and northern Vermont, before returning the car at the airport. Then it was logical to fly home to JFK from Burlington, on 2 September. Thus this 2011 revisit covered a partial train trip, two taxis, and a flight.

HUGH MARLOW By the oddest luck, my taxi driver was not your usual taxi driver. We got to talking and he learned all about the nine summers I'd spent at the college, and I learned that he was Hugh Marlow, who'd retired two years earlier from serving as the Executive Secretary of the Middlebury Alumni Association, a role he'd held for 28 years, dealing with alumni such as myself. He still lived in town, and was driving taxis to keep busy in retirement. I mentioned having heard Robert Frost speak, and he countered with a story of seeing him in town. As I explained in 2006/12: In 1976, we spent the US Bicentennial at an old-fashioned Fourth of July on the Middlebury Green. My best memory of the event remains the stately, tall, distinguished white-haired local lady leaning on a cane, who was celebrated as being 105 years old, and therefore five years old at the time of the US Centennial in 1876. Those were all the details I’d known, and I’ve always thought it was a great story. But Hugh Marlow absolutely exulted: "You knew Jessica Swift !!!" I could tell by his reaction that now I was bound forever in his mind to Middlebury. It turns out that she was the last of a long line of members of a local family, and was a benefactor of the town in many ways. I also found out that she eventually reached age 110 (1871-1981). I've also learned that Marlow was a graduate of Middlebury's Class of 1957, two years before my first visit in 1959, and that people tend to call him "Mr Middlebury".
When we reached town, Hugh asked me if he could give me a little tour before stopping at Middlebury Inn. First we went up to the upscale Swift House Bed & Breakfast, in Jessica’s former home. Then he showed me the brand-new Cross Street Bridge at the south end of town, just opened nine months earlier, in November 2010. This second crossing of Otter Creek was a unique collaboration between the Town and College. Hugh then told me he had a book he wanted to gift me, and I should pick it up at the front desk in the morning.
When I got the book, it was a huge tome, a coffee-table size book called The College on the Hill, that came out in 2000 on the Bicentenary of the College 1800-2000. He signed and dated it, saying "You were a great passenger", which was a wonderful thing to say to a traveler and alumnus. But I travel light and was just at the beginning of this trip, so I crossed the Green over to the post office, got one of their mailers, and mailed the tome home to myself. It weighed all of 6 pounds (2.7 kg)!

After that, I walked north a bit to visit the Swift House Inn, which Jessica’s property has now become after the family lived there from 1815 to 1981. It was almost across from Middlebury’s 1891 shingle-style railroad station up on Seymour.

Northeastern Colleges of Note    The best-known colleges in the US Northeast are the eight members of the Ivy League, which are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University. The term "Ivy League" originated in the 1930s and is used it to describe a group of elite private universities known for their athletic programs and academic prestige. The name is thought to be inspired by the ivy-covered buildings of these institutions, symbolizing their long-standing traditions and history. Here are the locations of the eight schools (Map by Filetime). All call themselves universities except Dartmouth College. Most are located along the coast, except Dartmouth, which is inland on the Connecticut River, and Cornell, relatively far west. All of the "Ivies" except Cornell (1865) were founded during the colonial period and therefore make up seven of the nine US colonial colleges. The other two colonial colleges, Queen's College (now Rutgers University) and the College of William & Mary, became public institutions.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62e9641d6c48f211b45f43dc/a459ae88-3d6d-46c2-b09d-312645487e84/little+ivy+map+website.jpg

Middlebury is included among the Little Ivies, a term that refers to a much more informal grouping of elite liberal arts colleges, also in the northeastern US, that are old, small, exclusive, selective, and competitive. The term is meant to imply comparison with the Ivies, but it is not strictly defined.
Thus, after my BA from undergraduate Queens College of CUNY, I attended Columbia, an "Ivy", for a graduate year in 1963-1964, and Middlebury, a "Little Ivy" for nine summers, 1959-1961 & 1975-1980, but got both my graduate degrees, the MA and DML, from Middlebury.

There is much more to the Middlebury story. Here we've covered Vermont and the Village, but in the next few postings I hope to get to the Campus, the Language Schools and their founding, and to actual studies in MC60s and MC70s, including my "Middlebury Mystery" (now solved).