GHS Museum and Offices in Winter

Greensboro Historical Society

29 Breezy Avenue
Greensboro, Vermont 05841
(802) 533-2457

  

 Summer Hours (July 4 through  August 31)

 Wed/Thurs - 10:00 to 2:00pm
Sat    10:00 to 2:00pm

 


Since its founding in 1977, the Greensboro Historical Society has brought together diverse people from the community: descendants of founding families, new residents, members of the summer community, school children, working people and those who have chosen to retire in our town.  All come together to celebrate and learn from our predecessors in this special place. Our membership in this small town is more than 300 families.

 



 2024 Summer Event: 

"The Bend Train History Walking Tour"
- Saturday, August 10th, 2024 - 
10AM @ Greensboro Bend Rail Station near LVRT trailhead parking lot

Join us for an all-ages-friendly walking history tour of the Greensboro Bend Train Station and the railroad before the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail arrived.

This short walk will be guided by long-time St. J. And L.C. Rail worker Steve Leach.

Parking is available along the road or at the LVRT Trailhead parking lot. Join us!

 

 

 

 

 



 2024 Summer Event: 

"Annual Meeting and Featured Presentation"
- Monday, August 5th, 2024 - 
7PM @ Fellowship Hall

Join us at this year’s annual meeting to learn more about Greensboro’s unique geological features that we tend to just take for granite—including Rocking Rock, Pulpit Rock, and the glacier-carved ledge on Barr Hill.

Dr. Robert Merrill has been involved in the field of geology for over 50 years, so bring all of your curiosity and questions, plus some interesting rocks to share!

Refreshments will be provided. 

 

 

 



 2024 Summer Event: 

"Annual Book Sale & Ice Cream Social"
Saturday, July 27, 2024,
Book Sale: 10:00-4:00pm
Ice Cream Social: 2:00-4:00pm

The Greensboro Historical society is hosting its annual book sale and ice cream social Saturday, July 27, in downtown Greensboro.

Select your next summer read from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM at Janet Long's garage (across the street from Willey's Store), and stop by the GHS lawn for free ice cream from 2:00 PM-4:00 PM.

While you eat your ice cream, take a moment to enjoy our outdoor story walk featuring The Little Red Caboose, a classic Golden Book about a little caboose with a big heart.

Everyone is welcome!

For more information, visit or call (802) 533-2457 during museum hours Wed./Thurs./Sat. 10:00 AM-2:00 PM. Visitors can also view this year’s exhibit “Rails to Trails," along with the permanent Hill Family exhibit. GHS publications, including the Hazen Road Dispatch, will be for sale. 

 

 

 

 



 2024 Summer Event: 

"Gebbie's Sugar on Snow"
Saturday, July 6, 2024, 5:00-8:00pm

Join in on the music, dancing, and Gebbie’s sugar on snow party at the Highland Center’s 2024 Funky Fourth celebrations!
120 servings will go fast—first come, first served.
$12 per person—all proceeds benefit the Greensboro Historical Society

 

 

 

 

 



 2024 Summer Exhibit: 

"Rails to Trails"

Tues/Wed/Thurs - 10:30 to 2:30pm
Friday - 2:30 to 5:30pm
Saturday - 10:00 to 12:00pm -

GREENSBORO HISTORICAL SOCIETY OPENING RECEPTION, Sunday, June 30, 3:00-5:00 at the GHS Museum, 29 Breezy Avenue in Greensboro next to Willey's Store. All are welcome to join us in celebrating the opening of our new exhibit: Rails to Trails. This exhibit focuses on the arrival and departure of the St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County railroad in Greensboro Bend as well as the transition of the rail line to the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.

Displays include maps, timelines, photos, press clippings, personal anecdotes, and curiosities from poems to artwork, plus a Kids’ Corner (including a train-themed light-up board, a train table with toy trains, and an outdoor story walk) and an array of railroad industry paraphernalia.

Refreshments will be served. All aboard! 

Exhibit Opening Reception on Sunday, June 30 from 3:00-5:00pm
GHS Museum, 29 Breezy Ave, in Greensboro (next to Willey's Store)

 



GHS NEWSLETTER #61 (Spring, 2024)

Click here to view it // or // Click here to view past newsletters.

Articles include:

Summer Exhibit - "50 Years of Land Conservation in Greensboro - revisited"

Summer Presentation - "The Story of Land Conservation in Vermont"
        - Presentation by Darby Bradley (VLT) and Bob Klein (TNC)

Summer Exhibit: “Rails to Trails”

President’s Corner:  “Docent - The Scent of a Deer?”

The Hazen Road Dispatch: 48 Years Old and Still Going Strong

Snowmobiling history with Shawn Messier and Dennis Pudvah

Vermont History Day 2024

Archives addition: Greensboro teacher's plan book from 1908

"Toad Bag" - collaboration with Lakeview students

Annual Meeting & Presentation: "Greensboro Rocks!" with geologist Bob Merrill

Lamoille Valley Rail Trail update

Achievement Award for 2023 exhibit: "Saving Land, Saving History: "50 Years of Land Conservation in Greensboro"

 

 




2024 Greensboro Town Meeting:

10AM, March 5th
Location: Lakeview Elementary School

 


Updating list of 2024 Calendar of Events


GHS NEWSLETTER #60 (Fall, 2023)

Click here to view it // or // Click here to view past newsletters.

Articles include:

Upcoming Winter Exhibit - "Winter Recreation in Greensboro, Part II" focusing on snowmobiling and ice fishing

Summer Presentation - "The Vermont Flood of July 10-11"
        - Presentation by Bob Merrill (geologist), Clay Simpson (historian), Stew Arnold (Lake Protection Committee, chair), Karl Stein (health officer), and Dave Brochu (fire chief)

"President's Corner" - The GHS Mascot - by BJ Gray

Thanks to Hazen Road Dispatch editor of 22 years, Gail Sangree

Grange Historian Visits GHS

Upcoming Summer Exhibit - Railroad in Greensboro Bend

 


GHS NEWSLETTER #59 (Spring, 2023)

Click here to view it // or // Click here to view past newsletters.

Articles include:

Summer Exhibit - "50 Years of Land Conservation in Greensboro - revisited"

Summer Presentation - "The Story of Land Conservation in Vermont"
        - Presentation by Darby Bradley (VLT) and Bob Klein (TNC)

"President's Corner" Nothing like a good road sign! - by BJ Gray

Hazen Road Dispatch - Contents of the 2023 edition

Review of our 2023 Winter Presentation - "Skiing in Greensboro"

GHS Bookshop

Greensboro's Nugget of History

Updated and expanded version of our 1976 publication "A History of the Greensboro Bend Railroad Station and the St. J. & L.C. Railroad. "

From the Archives : Greensboro Grange

Running Challenge - Featuring our local cemeteries

Overview of our shared "Civil War" exhibit with Hardwick Historical Society and Highland Center for the Arts

In Remembrance


 

 2023 Summer Exhibit: 

"50 Years of Land Conservation in Greensboro - revisited"

Tues/Wed/Thurs - 10:30 to 2:30pm
Friday - 2:30 to 5:30pm
Saturday - 10:00 to 12:00pm -

The GHS exhibit for the 2023 summer season revisits the history and value of land conservation in Greensboro over the past 50 years.
This exhibit showcases the work of landowners, conservation organizations and supporters.
 

“50 Years of Land Conservation in Greensboro” features 21 panels of photos and information about the conserved properties. 

This summer, we’ve added a showcase of products that represent the working lands amongst the conserved properties — timber, milk, cheese, grain for local bakers, haying, sugaring, organic herbs and vegetables are all continually made on local properties that have been conserved. 

We’ve also added notes about the value of land conservation, including clean waterways, carbon storage, public recreation, tourism, nature education, viewsheds, animal corridors, wetland habitats, greenspaces in town and working lands that continue to produce local food and wood for the timber industry. 

A monitor in the exhibit space will show the 2022 Summer presentation “History of Land Conservation in Vermont” by Bob Klein and Darby Bradley. Bob Klein was the first director of The Nature Conservancy, Vermont (starting in 1977) and Darby Bradley started the first land trust in Vermont, the Ottauquechee Land Trust, which eventually became the Vermont Land Trust. 

 

 


 2023 Summer Meeting Presentation: 

"Come Help Make History" - Open Panel Discussion of Recent and Historical Flooding in Greensboro

"Geology of Greensboro"
change in program due to flood affecting keynote speaker's schedule

Fellowship Hall
- 7PM, July 24th -

The Greensboro Historical Society invites you to our Annual Meeting with a revised program. Instead of learning about how ancient earth events known as geology have shaped this place, we ask you to share experiences with ways that recent earth events, like the flooding, are shaping our homes and lives.   Join your friends and neighbors to share stories and photos of ways the weather of the last week affected our community.  To bring a larger perspective, there will also be information on the flood of 1927.    

If you have digital photos to share, please send them, with identification, to Kyle Gray at the historical society () so they can be projected on the screen for all to see.   A video recording of the meeting will be part of Greensboro’s history, so come, share your stories, and help make history.  We look forward to seeing you at 7 PM Monday in Fellowship Hall of the Greensboro United Church of Christ.

“The Great Vermont Flood of July 10-11, 2023”


Geology of Greensboro with Dr. Benjamin DeJong, the Vermont State Geologist.  

On July 24 at 7 PM in Fellowship Hall the GHS Annual Meeting will precede an in-depth program on the very foundations of Greensboro. From kettle ponds to glacial erratics, Greensboro is rich with geological features that we tend to just take for granite. If you’d like to know your schist from your phyllite or recognize the signs of glacial activity when you see it, join us for a panel discussion featuring Vermont State Geologist Dr. Benjamin DeJong to learn more about the geology of Greensboro and Vermont. Bring your questions and curiosity and interesting rocks to share. Watch for other geology-related activities during the summer, including possible walks, library programs, and more.

 



2023 Greensboro Town Meeting:

9AM, March 7th
Location: Highland Center for the Arts 


2023 Winter Presentation: 
"Skiing in Greensboro"

Presentation by Sandy Gebbie and Willie Smith
(...and all community members with stories to share)

Learn about the history of nordic skiing at the Highland Lodge and about Greensboro's answer to alpine skiing: The Gebbie Ski tow!

Sandy Gebbie will talk about their downhill skiing operation (which opened in 1960 with a rope tow run by a tractor).

Willie Smith will recount tales of nordic skiing over the decades and will describe the growth of the trail network leading to and from the Lodge.

 

When: March 5th (Sunday) @ 2:00pm
Where: Fellowship Hall of the Greensboro United Church of Christ

 


2022 Publications & Events: 


 2022 Summer Meeting Presentation: 
"The History of Land Conservation in Vermont"   

Featured speakers Bob Klein (The Nature Conservancy, Vermont) and Darby Bradley (Vermont Land Trust)
share perspectives on the history of land conservation in Vermont.


Fellowship Hall, Greensboro
Monday, March 24th, 2022 at 1pm, @ Fellowship Hall 

“The History of Land Conservation in Vermont”

 


GHS NEWSLETTER #58 (Fall, 2022)

Click here to view it // or // Click here to view past newsletters.

Articles include:

 

Summer Exhibit - "50 Years of Land Conservation in Greensboro"

"President's Corner" Honoring Andy and Judy Dales - by BJ Gray

Summer Presentation - "The Story of Land Conservation in Vermont"
        - Presentation by Darby Bradley (VLT) and Bob Klein (TNC)

2023 Winter Meeting - "Snow on and Snow Forth: Winter Recreation in Greensboro"

Tracking our History: The Greensboro Bend Railroad Station

Historic Films of East Craftsbury

From the Archives : Greensboro Grange

Cemetery Stone Cleaning History Revealed



 2022 Winter Meeting Presentation: 
"Greensboro Cemeteries: Windows to the Past"   

Featured speaker Gina Jenkins and members of the Greensboro Cemetery Association will share stories of
Greensboro’s cemeteries and highlight this important connection to our Town’s past.
(Masks required)

Fellowship Hall, Greensboro
Sunday, March 24th, 2022 at 1pm, @ Fellowship Hall 

"Greensboro Cemeteries: Windows to the Past" 

 


GHS NEWSLETTER #57 (Spring, 2022)

Click here to view it // or // Click here to view past newsletters.

Articles include:

 

Summer Exhibit - "50 Years of Land Conservation in Greensboro"

"President's Corner" - by BJ Gray

Synopsis of 2022 Hazen Road Dispatch

GHS collaborations with area historical societies

Self-Guided History Explorer walks in Greensboro Village and Greensboro Bend

Review of GHS winter program -- Greensboro Cemeteries: " Windows on the Past"

Request for paintings for summer exhibit.

In Remembrance


Summer 2021 Featured Exhibit:
"Highland Cattle: Proud Heritage"
July 6th through August 31

This summer’s exhibit will focus on the history of Highland Cattle in Greensboro.
This heritage breed has been a part of our town for over fifty years.
We hope you will enjoy seeing some of the artifacts, trophies, and photos from this award-winning herd, as well as learning more about other kinds of cattle in Greensboro in the 2021 exhibit.
Click here to view the exhibit page.

 

 

Summer 2021 Annual Presentation:
"Timothy Hinman: Rogue or Hero?
August 9, 7pm

Join us for the annual summer meeting and presentation wherein two experts will discuss Timothy Hinman. Peggy Day Gibson, the former director of the Old Stone House Museum and our own Gail Sangree, a Hinman researcher and author, will share insights into the man and his world.
Click here to view the presentation page.

 

Click here for the complete 2021 Calendar of Events


2021 Publications: 


GHS NEWSLETTER #56 (Fall, 2021)

Click here to view it // or // Click here to view past newsletters.

Articles include:

 

Summer Exhibit - "Highland Cattle - Proud Heritage" - Ray Shatney and Janet Steward

"President's Corner" - by BJ Gray

Hinman Settler Road dedication

Summer Presentation - "Timothy Hinman: Rogue or Hero?"

From the Archives: Early 20th century tintypes

Tribute to GHS presidents Nancy Hill and Willie Smith

Volunteer Support - Amelia, Leo, and Renée Circosta

Upcoming: Winter Presentation
"Our Cemeteries: A Window on the Past" - Sunday, March 6th at 2pm
with Gina Jenkins, Pat Mercier and others from the Greensboro Cemetery Commission  

 


GHS NEWSLETTER #55 (Spring, 2021)
Click here to view it // or // Click here to view past newsletters.

Articles include:

Summer Exhibit - "Highland Cattle - Proud Heritage"

Summer Presentation - "Timothy Hinman: Rogue or Hero?"

Self-Guided History Walks in Greensboro and Greensboro Bend Villages (expanded for 2021

President's Corner articles by Willie Smith and Nancy Hill

Remembrance of Patricia Haslem (1920-2020)

Remembrance of Elizabeth Hardy Bishop (1926-2020)

GHS in Montpelier

GHS donates history books in Greensboro Bend

Lyles Newsletter over the years



Summer 2021 Activity: July 3rd through September
History Walks in Greensboro and Greensboro Villages

(Click above to find
maps & questionnaire)

Looking for a fun, interesting activity this summer?  Take the recently installed and expanded self-guided History Explorer Walk in Greensboro Village or Greensboro Bend.  
It’s a great walk for adults and children; and it includes a series of questions answered by visiting the signs posted throughout the villages.

Follow the numbered designations to each historic location where you can read the history and answer the questionnaire. Those completing the questionnaires can redeem them for prizes at the Greensboro Free Library (GFL).

Brochures guiding the walks can be found at Smith’s Store for the “Greensboro Bend” walk and at the GFL and GHS building on the porch bulletin board for the "Greensboro Village" walk

Click on the image to the right to learn more about the walks and to see maps and questions! 

Find photos, for example, of the first town hall or the Caspian Lake House in Greensboro Village, or the workers at the first sawmill in Greensboro Bend. 

The walk will be posted from July 3 - September.

Much of the information came from the booklet "An Architectural Walking Tour of Greensboro, VT" prepared by GHS in 2001. Copies of that booklet are available to check out from the GFL or are for sale at the GHS museum on a Saturday morning from 10 – 12pm.


 2020 Winter Meeting Presentation: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Ammendment!

Vermont Humanities Council presents Linda Radtke's talk:

"From the Parlor to the Polling Place: Stories and Songs from the Suffragists" 

Sunday, March 1st, 2020 at 2pm, @ Fellowship Hall 


2020 Greensboro Town Meeting


Recent GHS Event: 

2019 Summer Meeting Presentation:

"The First Vermonters: The Abenaki Nation's Past, Present, and Future."
Follow-up Presentation by Bobby Farlice-Rubio of Fairbanks Museum
(back by popular demand)

Monday, August 5th, 2019 at 7pm, @ Fellowship Hall 
 



2020 Publications: 

GHS NEWSLETTER #54 (Fall, 2020) 
Click here to view it

Articles include:

Self-Guided History Walks in Greensboro and Greensboro Bend Villages

President's Corner by Nancy Hill

New Hinman Road Official State Sign in Greensboro

Baker Hill - History Walk

History in the making

Fire at Pope's Store in Greensboro Bend

 


GHS NEWSLETTER #53 (Spring, 2020) 
Click here to view it

Articles include:

Review of 2020 Winter Presentation by Linda Radtke: "From the Parlor to the Polling Place"
(Video is available above) 

Notice of canceled Summer 2020 events

Overview of the 2020 Hazen Road Dispatch

Update on facility maintenance (reconditioned floor)

Update on archives digitization and accessioning

Reflection on Marion Babbie's 100th Birthday

Willie Smith's "President's Corner" reflects on changes brought by Covid-19

In Memoriam column

 


 

 Previous Winter Presentation: 
"Treasures from the VHS Attic"

Presentation by Steve Perkins, Director of the Vermont Historical Society

VHS Director Steve Perkins brought a cache of unique and priceless artifacts from the VHS collection in Montpelier to the annual winter meeting of the Greensboro Historical Society in Fellowship Hall on Sunday afternoon March 10

When: March 10th (Monday) at 2:00pm
Where: Fellowship Hall of the Greensboro United Church of Christ

 


 Previous Summer Presentation:
"The First Vermonters -- Indigenous People"

Presentation by Bobby Farlice-Rubio of Fairbanks Museum

The Abenaki people have lived in Vermont for thousands of years, and they are still here today. By focusing on the individual lives of seven famous Abenakis from different centuries, we’ll explore how their culture has survived the centuries and evolved to meet the challenges of a changing world. We’ll also discover how the Abenaki Nation has shaped the present and future of all of Vermont’s people.

When: August 6th (Monday) at 7:30pm
Where: Fellowship Hall of the Greensboro United Church of Christ

 


Previous Summer Exhibit: 
"Greensboro in the Gazette - Photos from 1978 - 1994"

You and your friends and neighbors will be featured with Gazette photos taken by Vanessa Fournier, Dorothy Ling and from private collections
 
When: Museum opens on July 1st (Sunday) from 3 - 5 pm - Regular hours as listed above
Where: Greensboro Historical Society building

Previous Fall Presentation: 

Fall Presentation: Lauren Sopher, UVM Graduate Student - "PLACE" Presentation

The GHS (along with the Greensboro Planning Commission) helped support Lauren Sopher with her culminating project from the Field Naturalist and Ecological Planning graduate program at the University of Vermont. This "PLACE" project focused on the "Place-based Landscape Analysis & Community Engagement" of Greensboro Bend.

Click on the image to the right to view the video.

When: November 1st (Thursday) at 7pm
Where: St. Michael's Church Hall in Greensboro Bend 


Forty Years of the Hazen Road Dispatch

Our new anthology of writings from that journal, is now available for sale at the historical society building and the Willey's Store at $24.95 per copy. Containing articles about Greensboro, Craftsbury, Hardwick, and Walden, it includes pieces by Allen Davis, Charlie Morrissey, Lewis Hill, Sally Fisher, Alan Howes and many others, Some of the older articles have been updated, and there are several new photographs.

 As Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Greensboro summer resident Wallace Stegner wrote in the foreword to The History of Greensboro, the First Two Hundred Years (1990), "Local history is the best history, the history with more of its readers in it than any other kind.  It is immediate, personally apprehended ...  It is the record of human living in its daily complexity and the sense of place in it is strong."  This insight helps to explain the strong support GHS continues to enjoy.


Historical Videos

Click on the upper left-hand corner of the video below to see our recent videos! 


What do we do?

  • We produce varied publications (see the "Resources" menu items)
  • We do original research, published since 1975 in our annual journal, The Hazen Road Dispatch (see the "Resources" menu items)
  • We provide space for permanent display of artifacts from early Greensboro settlers and create special annual exhibits to highlight some aspect of the town's history in the new addition to the GHS building, completed in 2010; and we assemble albums containing photos and information from each exhibit (see the "Resources" and the "Photo Gallery"  menu items)
  • We arrange at least three annual lectures, panels, or general interest programs, including a winter meeting and summer meetings in July and August, on topics related to the year's theme (see the "Events" menu items)
  • We sponsor educational seminars on historical themes
  • We work with teachers and students at the local school to involve children in learning about their history
  • We store records of several community organizations
  • We collect and archive records, photos, genealogy data and historic artifacts from Greensboro families
  • We record audiotapes and DVDs of individuals and meetings (see "Audio" and "Video" archives under the "Resources" menu item)
  • We collect and file information on current events for future generations
  • We sponsor walks to local spots of historical interest
  • We enjoy monthly luncheon meetings and a summer ice cream social with old-time games for children;  and we conduct an annual book sale each autumn.

Visit our friends and colleagues of the Vermont Historical Society online and at their two locations:

Vermont History Museum

109 State Street
Pavilion Building (next to the State House)
Montpelier, VT
Normal hours: 10:00am to 4:00pm, Tuesday - Saturday
Vermont History Center

Historic Spaulding School Building
60 Washington Street
Barre, VT
Normal hours: 9:00am to 4:00pm, Monday–Friday