From collection Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
Shelburne Hotel, Shelburne, VT. 13.
Summertime scene of a mid-19th century clapboard house and adjacent frame outbuildings on a dirt street. A large maple tree stands directly in front, shading the house. The building has been converted into a hotel with outbuildings converted to garage facilities. Three early automobiles are parked at the front and side. The house, seen in quarter view, has a porch that wraps from the front to the visible side, offering plenty of room for rocking and other types of chairs. A sign hanging near the front steps reads "A Good Place to Stop". Another sign announces "Goodrich", suggesting the place carried tires. The largest sign in the scene, by far, is the logo gas sign "Socony" followed by "Hotel & Garage" in smaller format. A gas pump stands out front, between the porch and the road. Multiple signs identify the amenities: "Shelburne Hotel and Garage/ Rooms & Meals/ Rooms 75 cents and $1.00/ with bath $1.50 and $2.00/ Lunches/ Cold Drinks/ Repairing/ Tire Storage. The scene documents the increasingly common sight of dining, lodging, and automobile servicing establishments along the state roads of New England in the early years of the 20th century, converted out of homesteads to capture tourist and other motor traffic. Soon, many of these roads would be paved with concrete.
