From collection Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
Lincoln Inn, Essex Jct. VT "The Inn to Stay In" D172
A view of the Lincoln Inn, located on the corner of Park Street and Maple Street in Essex Junction, VT. "The Lincoln Inn was established July 16, 1914. Originally it was the Bates' residence. In 1912 when the Johnson Hotel on Lincoln Street burned, a group of town leaders purchased the house to convert it into an inn to accommodate railroad passengers. Allen Martin, lawyer, town clerk, son-in-law of Job Bates, became the group's director. This Essex Junction Hotel company chose to name the hotel The Lincoln Inn probably because it was near Lincoln Street or possibly because it was managed by Ira Lincoln. The Lincoln Inn has seen a variety of owners. Their menus for years sported the now infamous poem by the Honorable Edward Phelps called "The Lay of the Lost Traveler". The poem was a broadside against failed train schedules in the 1880s, the last line being "And I hope in hell their souls may dwell who first invented Essex Junction!"" -- Burlington Free Press 6/20/2014
