There was much excitement in town during the summer and fall of 1929 as Main Street was paved. This was probably the first paved road in town. Does anyone know if any other roads were paved with a hard surface before 1929, maybe in North Westminster?
It was officially “federal route 5″ starting in 1927 which is the reason it was getting paved, but judging by the newspaper accounts, no one used that name at the time.
At the south end of the village, the “hill road” was straightened (leaving behind today’s Greenwood Road). The resulting confusion caused an accident the first day!
Do you have any stories about the paving of the King’s Highway? Or, just comment on the newspaper articles below.
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Cement Highway Contract Let
[Brattleboro Vermont Phoenix, April 19, 1929, p. 5]
Callan Construction Co. to Build Westminster Road
Will Ship Four Shovels at Once—F. R. Atkinson, Representing Contractor, in Brattleboro Saturday.
At a meeting of the state highway board in Montpelier Friday afternoon the contract for building seven and one-half miles of cement road in Westminster, beginning at the northerly end of the Putney cement road built last year and continuing to the Rockingham town line, was awarded to the Callan Construction Co. of Bristol, R. I., which submitted the lowest of 15 bids. The Callan Co.’s bid was $319,523, or $11,683 under the second lowest bidder, B. Perini & Co., of Ashland, N. H., whose figure was $331,206.
F. R. Atkinson of Boston, representing the Callan Construction Co., was in Brattleboro on Saturday, and called on District Highway Supervisor Charles J. Dube. He said the company would make preparations at once for beginning the project, shipping not less than four steam shovels as provided in the contract. The contractor has 165 working days in which to complete the job. So the limit will not expire before the last of October.
The Callan Co. is a large concern and is in a position to do other jobs at the same time; in fact Mr. Atkinson is to figure on the Hinsdale cement road job and other projects that are to be contracted for this year. Its bid on the Westminster road was $27,820 under that of D. W. Overocker of Brattleboro, whose bid of $347,343 was sixth lowest. The Callan Co.’s contract is for an average of $42,600 a mile, which is considerably less than the average cost per mile of the Putney road.
Contrary to a statement published in the northern part of the state, the Westminster job is a federal aid project, numbered 83C, and it is on federal route No. 5. The government will pay $15,000 a mile and half the cost of two small bridges. The expense to the town of Westminster will be about $7,000, including the right of way. Toward this expense the town has a right to put in its state aid and 5 per cent money, totaling about $2,350.
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From the Vermont Phoenix, Aug. 16, 1929, p. 2 (Westminster column):
The cement on the west side of the road is laid as far as the Power farm. On Monday pouring was begun on the east side, by the underpass, and 1605 feet, or 36 blocks were laid. It was said this was the largest day’s work so far.
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From the Vermont Phoenix, Aug. 23, 1929, p. 2 (Westminster column):
Road Progress.
It is reported that cement work will cease at the north end of the project very soon and the gang will re-commence the pouring of cement from Bent’s hill to the south end of the job. It is necessary to do some blasting of rock near the Bellows Falls bridge, which is the cause of stopping the work there. There is also blasting to be done near the Putnam place on the south end but it will not interfere with starting the cement work at the point mentioned. Gravel and filling is being taken from the Fullam lot near the iron bridge in the Pine Banks district. The steam shovel is used and several trucks convey the filling to places where needed.
The old wooden structure that spanned the stream on the cross road to Kurn Hattin has been replaced by an iron bridge taken from a back road when a cement bridge was built over the stream. The frame has been painted to look like new. The road has been widened at the end of the bridge, thus providing room for meeting a car.
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[Vermont Phoenix, October 11, 1929, p. 1]
British Premier Not to Attend
Tells Senator Greene Cannot Visit Westminster
Notable Event Tomorrow—Dedication of the King’s Highway to Attract Big Gathering
Washington, Oct. 9.
Ramsay MacDonald, British premier, will be unable to accept the invitation of Governor Weeks to go to Vermont next Saturday to be present at the dedication of the resurfaced road between Bellows Falls and Putney, first laid out in 1737.
Last week the Vermont governor, through Senator Frank L. Greene, transmitted to Premier MacDonald an invitation to visit Bellows Falls on Oct. 12 to participate in the ceremonies attending the opening of the resurface road. Senator Greene today announce that he has received a letter from the Premier expressing regret and stating that he would be unable to accept governor Week’s invitation, because of other engagements.
An official program for the dedication of The King’s Highway, with events centering at Westminster, which will take place this week Saturday afternoon, has been issued by the general committee. This new cement road extends through Putney and Westminster to the Bellows Falls line, and its dedication is to be an event of note, with prominent speakers.
The program will begin at 1 p.m., and will include a monster parade. In the evening from 7 to 9 there will be a confetti dance on the Square at Bellows Falls, for which several barrels of confetti have been bought. After that there will be a dance in Union hall. [program schedule and Premier’s reply follow.]
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[Vermont Phoenix, October 18, 1929, p. 1]
Royal Road Re-Dedicated
192-Yr.-Old Highway, Relaid—Scene of Great Ceremony
Barrett Brings Message from MacDonald on Latter’s 63d Birthday—Gov. Weeks and Cong. Gibson Speak.
Fourteen miles of new-laid cement, in itself flat and prosaic, between Putney and Bellows Falls, was made the object of a great ceremony and patriotic and peace sentiments at Westminster on Columbus day which outdid anything hitherto recorded in the way of highway celebrations for this section of Vermont.
The road, originally laid out, in part, 192 years ago as the King’s Highway and in early days used as a military training ground for British troops, was rededicated and rechristened with the same royal name as a gesture of friendliness and good-will to Great Britain.
By mere coincidence, the celebration fell upon the 63d birthday of Prime Minister J. Ramsay MacDonald, who is visiting this country on a mission of peace, and although the premier was unable to accept an invitation to be present, he spoke by proxy. Hon. John Barrett of Grafton, who was one of the committee to greet the premier on his arrival in this country, brought to the Westminster gathering a personal message from Premier MacDonald, full of appreciation of the importance of road-building, whether it be a rural road or the road to international peace and world-understanding.
While this message gave the celebration an international aspect, and the reading of it was a climax which provoked much applause, it was only one of many features in connection with the ceremony.
The waving of nearly a thousand handkerchiefs in welcome to Gov. John E. Weeks and to Mrs. Weeks, in recognition of the fact that the executive couple were celebrating their golden wedding anniversary on Monday, was another high-light of the occasion.
In addition to the governor who made a brief dedicatory address and to Mr. Barrett who spoke particularly on international relations, there was also a patriotic address by Congressman E. W. Gibson of Brattleboro. He reviewed the history of Westminster, where the first blood of the Revolution was shed by William French of Brattleboro, and where following this death there immediately was mobilized about a thousand men from all corners of the section offering the first organized resistance to the British authority, arresting and imprisoning the King’s court. Colonel Gibson also spoke inspirationally of the spirit of Vermont as exemplified at this early date; and down through a score of instances up to and including the valor of Vermont at Apremont and the Argonne.
Prior to the speech-making, which was under lowering skies on an open field near the highway at Westminster, there was a parade of several hundred automobiles from Bellows Falls to Putney, in the course of which garlands of laurel were tossed as a dedicatory ceremony at 14 mile posts along the highway.
The cars were labeled with large cards bearing the names of the several towns from which they came and a few were decorated with flags or bunting, as were many of the homes along the route.
Hon. George A. Dascomb was master of ceremonies at the field, and from a platform erected there began the occasion by introducing the governor and referring to his approaching golden wedding anniversary. He called for the “Chautauqua salute” whereupon practically everyone in the crowd of 1,000 to 1,500 people drew a handkerchief and waved it for some minutes in a prolonged ovation to the Governor and Mrs. Weeks, the latter being seated in an automobile near-by.
Mr. Barrett aroused the gathering to another ovation by recalling that the day was the 63d birthday of Premier MacDonald, as it was also the 437th anniversary of the discovery of America. Speaking with his customary enthusiasm and emotion, Mr. Barrett spoke glowingly of the achievements of Premier MacDonald and President Hoover in brightening the prospect of eternal peace. In a moment of digression, in addressing the boys and girls, he brought an outburst of amusement and apparent approval from the crowd when he predicted that America would have a woman as president within the next 25 years.
He said that he had recently been talking with South American engineers and it was their prediction—in connection with the new road-building in Vermont—that within 10 years one might ride on continuous cement highways from Bellows Falls to Buenos Aires in the Argentines or from Seattle to Santiago in Chile—“7,000 miles in comfort and ease in seven weeks’ time.”
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From the Vermont Phoenix, Oct. 18, 1929, p. 2 (Westminster column):
Notes on King’s Highway Parade.
Westminster is very largely indebted to Bellows Falls for the success of the celebration dedicating the opening of the King’s Highway, the 14 miles of new cement road through the east part of the town.
Probably the oldest person in the parade was Mrs. Martha Miller, a life-long resident of the town. Mrs. Miller will be 95 years old Dec. 1. She makes her home with her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mary Miller, at Westminster Station.
An interested visitor here Oct. 12 was Charles Stoddard of Westmoreland, N. H., the man who sent Calvin Coolidge a bouquet of trailing arbutus every springtime while the latter occupied the White House. Mr. Stoddard’s ancestors lived in Westminster and took a part in the early history of the town. A musket carried by one of them, Alexander Katham (or Catham) is now in the possession of F. M. Dutton of Dummerston, collector of curios.
Where the hill road was cut in two to make the approach to the cement (across the Fenn lot), one car came near going off the bank just as the parade passed the place. The driver was not aware of the cutting off of the road, and had driven up the old road. No barrier had been placed at the turning off place where everybody had been going. Later in the day, a Ford car, carrying the Narkewicz family of Pine Banks, did go over this bank, not having noticed the danger until two wheels of the car were over too far to go back. A general shaking up, and a few bruises resulted. The danger point was called to the attention of the construction company and proper care has now been taken.