Did you know St. Albans is the site of the most northern Civil War engagement?
What a wonderful find!! My wife and I were twiddling aimlessly about Vermont peeping at Fall leaves when we stumbled upon the town square (Taylor Park) in St. Albans with this little historical museum on its high side.
The museum wasn't open yet when we arrived so we lunched at the nearby seafood restaurant and returned at 1 p.m. when the docents opened it up. BECAUSE OF LIMITED OPERATING DATES AND HOURS, be sure to check their schedule online or call first: open late May thru early October only: 1 - 4 pm Tuesday - Friday and 10 am - 2 pm Saturday.
Admission is very low-cost - $5/adult, $2/child (6 - 14) - and goes directly to the museum's preservation efforts. They don't have a bookstore but a bookshelf, per se, of mostly area-specific histories and essays who's proceeds help the same.
There are two floors with several great rooms of exhibits to wander in and out of. One of our favorites was the room dedicated to war memorabilia from area residents spanning two centuries of American warfare, from pre-Civil to Indian to World War to current conflicts. There was everything from flags, medals, uniforms, boots, rifles and sabres, spent bullets and shells, patches, pictures from so many wars, even a small signal cannon.
Other rooms had the consummate local estate donations, giant stuffy portraits, and momentos from and of the area's noteworthy. Most notably, however, are the rooms dedicated to the two major things that helped shape and characterize St. Albans' past: the area's railroad industry and the Confederate raid on St. Albans.
St. Albans was a major part of the railroad networks in this neck of the country. One room has lots of great pieces of train memorabilia that will excite even the most well-versed of train aficionados!
In October 1864, as the Federals gained momentum sweeping through the Southern states, 21 Confederate calvarymen entered Vermont from Canada with two objectives: secure a cash infusion to buoy ailing monetary reserves in the South's war-torn coffers and attempt to skirmish the Federal troop masses in the South into breaking off their invasion and withdrawing to protect their northern borders. Some believe the raiders had further hoped that Federal pursuers chasing them into Canada would trigger the Canadians to enter the war in support of the Confederate States of America which Canada already loosely recognized. Known today as St. Albans Raid, it was a completely one-sided action in which townspeople were held hostage, many forced to pledge allegiance to the South, while several banks were robbed. In the end, one townsperson was killed and the raiders fled back into Canada. Canada refused U.S. demands to extradite them back to the United States on the grounds that they were soldier combatants, not criminals - again, due in part to that loose acknowledgement of the CSA.
Newspaper articles, pictures, memorabilia, and a very large-scale diarama of the city and the entire event including the aftermath really teaches you about the Civil War's most northern engagement!
And while most of the structures which stood witness to this 1864 event are gone now, few remain including one of the banks and Taylor Park itself. Museum docents are more than happy to point you on your way around the town and just outside along the town square if you want to see all the sites in person.
5-stars for the great job these dedicated volunteers do for this small community and visitors like us!
So if you're visiting this part of Vermont, add St. Albans to your itinerary for lunch and an hour at St. Albans Historical Society! read more