Vergennes Historic Walking Tour 2024 - Manual / Resource - Page 16
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WILLIAM WHITE BUILDING
aka Foote Building, 185 Main Street
This site was originally home to a
wooden
building
that
housed
Commodore Thomas Macdonough’s
office on an upper floor. William White
built the stone and brick building in
1827 and operated a hardware store on
the ground floor. There was also a bank
with an entrance from Green Street. In
the 1880s, George Stone operated a
grocery store at the site. Over the
years, the building has been home to
several businesses, including Foote’s
Insurance Agency. It is now home to
the award-winning lu lu Ice Cream.
18
STONE BLOCK
aka Russell or Sherman Block, 205-221 Main Street
This quarried limestone commercial block was built in 1836 and included the Bixby Hardware Store,
started by the father of the library’s benefactor, among its many tenants. In the 1830s, John E.
Roberts had a bookstore and reading room in the building where customers could peruse and
purchase antislavery newspapers, books and pamphlets. Some of the materials were supplied by the
new Vermont Anti-Slavery Society headed by Rowland Robinson of Ferrisburgh, whose home (on
Route 7) is now the Rokeby Museum and a National Historic Landmark because of its important
Underground Railroad history. In 1896, a fire in the downtown destroyed the third story and stone
parapet of the Stone Block, which weren’t replaced in the post-fire renovations. The current
businesses include Jackman Fuels, Hare and the Dog, Stone Block Antiques and Diddle & Zen. Just
around the corner on South Maple Street is A. Ginsberg Architects.
