Putney Then and Now: A Vermont Town in Photographs, 1885 - 2025 Paperback – November 26, 2025

Putney is an old town on the Connecticut River in southeastern Vermont. It was chartered and settled 275 years ago in the 1750s. At the time, the area was called the "Northern Territory" and few families ventured so far north. After the American Revolution, Putney in 1790 was one of the largest towns in Vermont. In contrast to many old American towns, most of the village, built in the 1780s-1840s, remains intact. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the “Putney Village Historic District.” Skilled photographers captured images of the town in the mid-1880s and again in the early 1900s. These photographs let us peer into the lives of villagers over a century ago and examine their activities, clothing, work, and transportation. This book contrasts the old photos with those taken today. This sometimes reveals remarkable preservation, and other times dramatic change. Putney was an agrarian town in the 1700s and a mill town in the 1800s. Today there are few farms and no mills, but the population is the highest in the town's history. The historic photographs, long preserved in glass negatives, old prints, and individual collections, are curated and presented here for readers. Read more