The Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village is a museum run by the Orleans County Historical Society in Brownington, Vermont. The Old Stone House at the heart of the village is a part of the

Brownington Village Historic District The Brownington Village Historic District is a historic site in Brownington, Vermont, United States. It is located near the intersection of Hinman and Brownington Center roads. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on J ...

, a district of ten historic buildings added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1973.

History

The Old Stone House, or Athenian Hall, was built in 1836 by

Alexander Twilight Alexander Lucius Twilight (September 23, 1795 – June 19, 1857) was an American educator, minister and politician. He is the first African-American man known to have earned a bachelor's degree from an American college or university, graduati ...

, the nation's first African-American college graduate. Twilight was the minister of the Brownington Congregational Church and the principal of the Orleans County Grammar School. The Orleans County Grammar School was the only high school in the county which required many students to travel long distances for their education. They boarded with families in town, including Twilight's. Athenian Hall was built to accommodate the larger number of students attending the Grammar School. Twilight pressed his board of trustees for a larger building but failed to receive support from the majority. He alienated many of the trustees by his adamancy, and the building was left completely to Twilight. In 1834, he laid out a foundation plan for land donated by Cyrus Eaton across the road from his house. It called for a four-story granite building measuring . Over the following two years the present stone house was erected following the lines and general appearance of a similar building, quite possibly Painter Hall at Middlebury College; however, detailed information is not available on how the granite structure was built. BROWNINGTON VILLAGE HISTORIC DISTRICT

Twilight began building in 1834 and finished two years later. From 1836 to 1859, the building was used as a dormitory for school children, boys and girls. Due to diminishing school enrollment Athenian Hall was closed for good in 1859. For a brief time Mercy Ladd Merrill Twilight continued to live there with a few boarders. She then continued alone until she moved to

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

in 1865. When she died in 1878 she was buried next to her husband in Brownington. The building stayed vacant until in 1918 when the Stone House was put up for

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

. A representative of the railroad in the state of Vermont bid on the structure with the hopes of using the granite stones for bridge

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

s. The Orleans County Historical Society bid at the price of $500 (the equivalent of $ in current dollars) and won the auction. The building was opened as a museum in 1925. The attached barn was torn down in the 1920s. The building has four floors with twenty-two rooms of exhibits. It is dedicated to the history of the last two centuries in

Orleans County, Vermont Orleans County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,393. Its county seat is the city of Newport. The county was created in 1792 and organized in 1799. As in ...

, and to the life of Alexander Twilight, the first African-American college graduate in the U.S. and state legislator.http://www.oldstonehousemuseum.org Old Stone House Museum. 2009-06-08.

References

External links

Old Stone House Museum
- official site {{Authority control Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Greek Revival architecture in Vermont Museums in Orleans County, Vermont History museums in Vermont Historic house museums in Vermont African-American museums in Vermont Biographical museums in Vermont Historic district contributing properties in Vermont Houses in Orleans County, Vermont National Register of Historic Places in Orleans County, Vermont Buildings and structures in Brownington, Vermont 1836 establishments in Vermont