Vergennes Historic Walking Tour 2024 - Manual / Resource - Page 13
16
STEVENS HOUSE
186 Main Street
Although significantly altered and expanded over the years,
the Stevens House is the oldest structure in downtown
Vergennes with the original building dating to the 1790s. Jesse
Hollister bought it in 1795 and rented it to Azariah Painter,
who ran Painter’s Tavern there until 1816. The building was
then bought by two men who continued to run it as a hotel,
tavern and stop for mail coaches traveling between Montreal
and Boston until 1840. The hotel gained a reputation for good
food in the 1850s when Pamelia Storms, a Black cook, worked
there. Pamelia was rated
