The Toll House is a historic

toll house A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge. History Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and ...

at 2028 Mountain Road in

Burke, Vermont Burke is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,651 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town contains the villages of East Burke, Vermont, East Burke, West Burke, Vermont, ...

. It was built in 1940-41 by crews of the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

as an administrative headquarters for Darling State Park, and as a toll house for the Burke Mountain Road. It is one of the state's finest examples of CCC architecture. It was listed on 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 v ...

in 2006.

Description and history

The former Toll House is located in a rural setting on the north slope of Burke Mountain, on the west side of Mountain Road east of the

Burke Mountain Academy Burke Mountain Academy is a full-year private college-preparatory school in the northeastern United States, located in East Burke, Vermont. It educates and trains alpine ski racing athletes on the slopes of adjacent Burke Mountain Ski Area. Ove ...

. It is a two-story structure, with a rusticated stone first floor and squared log construction on the second. It is covered by a gabled roof. There are two flanking -story wings, set back from the main block, with similar styling. The wing nearest the street originally housed the toll facilities for the mountain road and caretaker's quarters, while the main block was designed for public access and offices of the park administration. with Land that made up Darling State Forest was purchased beginning in 1904 by Elmer Darling, owner of the Darling Estate, a large gentleman's farm and country estate on an adjacent ridge. After his death in 1931, his heirs gave the property on Burke Mountain to the state. Darling built a carriage road to the summit of Burke Mountain about 1910, which was improved in part by the CCC in the 1930s, when other park facilities, including construction of this house, took place. The house remained state property until 1969, when it was sold to the operators of the

Burke Mountain Ski Area Burke Mountain Ski resort is a mid-size ski resort open to skiing and snowboarding in northeast Vermont (aka Vermont's "Northeast Kingdom" ). It is located on Burke Mountain and is home to Burke Mountain Academy, a ski academy. In May 2012, Burke ...

. They used the building for administrative and residential purposes until 2000, when it was sold into private ownership following the ski area's bankruptcy.

References

{{NRHP in Caledonia County, Vermont Transport infrastructure completed in 1940 Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Civilian Conservation Corps in Vermont Buildings and structures in Burke, Vermont Toll houses on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Caledonia County, Vermont 1940 establishments in Vermont

Description and history

See also

References