Navigation

History of 23 Elm Street

Built in 1807 by Elisha Taylor, 23 Elm Street has evolved through the years and has served various purposes. Elisha Taylor was a builder and trader, and it is said that at one time he owned 100 acres within the village of Woodstock, hard to believe in this day and age.

The building has been used as offices, storage, an apartment on the second floor, a post office, a Masonic Hall, and was occupied by Governor Smith during the session of the legislature of 1807. At that time Vermont had a “roving” legislature that sat at various locations across the State. It had a tin shop and a meat store. In the 1950s it had the local newspaper, the “Vermont Standard” on the 1st floor.

At the present time, Eyes on Elm, a beautifully curated eyeglass shop that features eyeglasses of all price ranges, has been here since 2011. People travel far and wide to visit this very special store.  The Vermont Standard has returned to 23 Elm Street and occupies the entire second floor. They are the oldest continuously published weekly newspaper in Vermont.

The building has always been kept up to high standards and has very recently been renovated with impeccable taste and detail. It is highly regarded as one of the important historical commercial buildings of Woodstock.

Timeline of 23 Elm Street’s History

  • Elm street was opened in 1797 by Charles Marsh and Jesse Williams as a private enterprise. The first building to be erected in the new Street was Charles Marsh’s law office (pre 1800 – formerly next to Congregational Church; building was moved to Hartland Hill.)*
  • Elisha Taylor innkeeper and trader; a man once of considerable celebrity.*
  • “Opposite Edsons row in 1796 Elisha Taylor put up a building for a Tavern… by the name of the Village Hotel, at the sign of the Eagle”.*
  • “In addition to his business as an innkeeper, Mr. Taylor dealt in merchandise some, and to provide facilities for this latter branch of business, he put up in 1807 a block on the site now occupied by the Greene’s block on Elm Street.”*
  • “The building was constructed with brick ends, having a store room and small office on the lower floor, and in the second story a single apartment fitted out for a Masonic Hall. This hall was occupied by Governor Smith and the Council during the session of the legislature for 1807”.*
  • Thence conveyed to Amara Allen.*
  • Benjamin Swan*
  • 1840. Henry Hatch. “being building formerly operated as a store and recently as post office on the east side of Elm Street next to Bank of Woodstock.”*
  • Chester P. Davis*
  • 1886. Luther O. Greene. Building now occupied by B. T. Thompson as a tin shop and Whitcomb as a meat store.*
  • 1903. F. Thomas Kidder direct line to*
  • 1939 Katherine Kidder Lightbourn. Used in the 1950s for the local weekly newspaper, The Vermont Standard, on main floor…*
  • 1973. John B. Shane – various offices and small shops.
  • 1981. Georgina M. Williamson – first floor Morgan Ballou and Shackleton Furniture (Shackleton was Woodstock Travel until 2000), second floor Georgina Williamson Real Estate.
  • 2012. James Williamson – first floor Eyes on Elm and the large space is available, second floor The Vermont Standard

*From Dana’s History of Woodstock.