ST. JOHNSBURY VT

ST. JOHNSBURY VT

Courthouse Common

Built - 1954

St. Johnsbury was first named St. John by Colonel Ethan Allen who suggested the name St. John as a tribute to Hector St. Jean de Crovecoeur, the Frendch Consul who was also an experimental farmer, excellant writer and a powerful friend of America in its infancy. Mr. DeCrovecoeur was very flattered by this gesture but stated that there were already many places named St. John, and that this new town should be different and given the name St. Johnsbury which was a unique name and the only one in the world, a distinction which remains today.

This new town immediately became a rapidly growing one and rail and highway junction which turned it into a simple town of farmers to an industrial, commercial and cultural crossroads of the region, a position it remains so to this day.

St. Johnsbury's original bandstand was built in 1889 on Railroad Street and after many years, was torn down in 1951 after a meeting of the St. Johnsbury Band, three years prior in 1948, decided that the freight train noise and traffic conditions made decent concerts impossible to hold.

In 1954 the new bandstand was built in another much quieter area of town on the Courthouse Common where there was sufficient space for the structure and offered a wonderful and peaceful view of the city below. The bandstand was voted in by the townspeople at a town meeting on March 6th at a construction cost of an amount not to exceed $3,000 with the contract going to C. John Corbgett of St. Johnsbury. The St. Johnsbury Band greeted the project with open arms since they would be the main performers in the bandstand during the summer concerts. From that point on, many supper concerts have been held on the bandstand along with Memorial Day celebrations and other community events.

INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY:

St. Johnsbury Athenaeum Staff