Vermont was certainly not immune to the impact and effects of Great Depression. Rural communities and those tied to agriculture likewise suffered the consequences of a nationwide and worldwide depression, but in different ways than the urban communities and the marble business. Some say that Vermont’s subsistence farming and small local markets had changed so little over time that farmers hardly noticed the Depression, while others insist that agriculture suffered enormously.
Income from the sale of fluid milk, Vermont’s most important agricultural product, dropped more than half from 1929 to 1933, in some places to 2.67 cents per quart—far less than the cost to the farmer for feed and equipment. The decline in demand for agricultural products that farmers had used to supplement their incomes, such as potatoes and lumber, further reduced agricultural workers’ purchasing power to its lowest level since 1877. Many farmers sold out—more than 1,500 farms went out of business in the decade after the Great Crash of 1929, putting much of the land out of cultivation, and by 1930 the proportion of unimproved farmland had risen to 60 percent.
What allowed many Vermonters to survive in both rural and urban areas during this time were the skills and tradition of self-reliance, combined with cooperation, bartering, and sharing resources. We’re proud to have maintained those values throughout the decades! Here are 27 photos of people and places in Vermont that give us a glimpse of history.
- Vermont farmer and sheep near North Troy.
Carl Mydans Photo by Carl Mydans, August 1936. Location North Troy, Orleans, Vermont.
- Farm boy and horse east of Lowell, Vermont.
Carl Mydans August 1936. Location: Lowell, Orleans, Vermont
- Milk house cooled by running spring water on farm near Lowell, Vermont.
Carl Mydans August 1936. Location: Lowell, Orleans, Vermont
- Farm with round barn. Caledonia County, Vermont.
Arthur Rothstein 1937. Location: Caledonia, Vermont
- Looking for the mail, McNally farm, Kirby, Vermont.
Arthur Rothstein September 1937. Location: Kirby, Caledonia, Vermont
- Frank Kinney on a hay rake, Eden Mills, Vermont.
Arthur Rothstein September 1937. Location: Eden Mills, Lamoille, Vermont
- Hired hand milking. McNally farm, Kirby, Vermont.
Arthur Rothstein September 1937. Location: Kirby, Caledonia, Vermont
- Threshers stopping for a drink. Caledonia County, Vermont.
Arthur Rothstein September 1937. Location: Caledonia, Vermont
- Silo on farm. Eden Mills, Vermont.
Arthur Rothstein
October 1937.
Location: Eden Mills, Lamoille, Vermont
- Farmers near Woodstock, Vermont bring their cans of milk to the crossroads early every morning where it is picked up by the coop farmers’ truck and is taken to the city.
Marion Post Wolcott March 1939. Location: Windsor, Vermont
- G.W. Clark, seventy-one year old farmer, came to town every Saturday to sell butter. Woodstock, Vermont. He always lived in Vermont.
Marion Post Wolcott March 1939. Location: Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont
- Hired man on Gilbert farm emptying load of manure after cleaning out the dairy barn early on a winter morning. Woodstock, Vermont.
Marion Post Wolcott March 1939. Location: Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont
- Preparing dinner in farm home near Bradford, Vermont.
Russell Lee October 1939. Location: Bradford, Orange, Vermont
- FSA (Farm Security Administration) client feeding his chickens on farm near Bradford, Vermont.
Russell Lee October 1939. Location: Bradford, Orange, Vermont
- Farmstead on Highway No. 4 near Bridgewater, Vermont.
Marion Post Wolcott October 1939. Location: Bridgewater, Windsor, Vermont
- Farmhouse on main highway near Putney, Vermont.
Russell Lee March 1940. Location: Putney, Windham, Vermont
- Sawing wood on farm. Woodstock, Vermont.
Marion Post Wolcott March 1940. Location: Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont
- Hired help resting after day’s work in Upwey horse farm. South Woodstock, Vermont.
Marion Post Wolcott March 1940. Location: Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont
- Farmer’s son and dog driving the cows back to the barn after watering them at the brook. All other sources of water supply were frozen for two months during very severe winter. Clinton Gilbert’s farm. Woodstock, Vermont.
Marion Post Wolcott March 1940. Location: Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont
- Young son of Frank H. Shurtleff gathering sap from sugar trees for making maple syrup.
Marion Post Wolcott April 1940. Location: North Bridgewater, Windsor, Vermont
- Farm woman washing clothes in her motor-driven washing machine. Near Lincoln, Vermont.
Louise Rosskam July 1940. Location: Lincoln, Addison, Vermont
- Farmer in his potato field near Bristol, Vermont.
Louise Rosskam July 1940. Location: Bristol, Addison, Vermont
- Brattleboro merchant cutting hay with a tractor on his farm on the Bellows Falls road.
Jack Delano August 1941. Location: Brattleboro, Windham, Vermont
- Loading hay on a dairy farm near Brandon, Vermont.
Jack Delano August 1941. Location: Brandon, Rutland, Vermont
- East Montpelier, Vermont. Charles Ormsbee and his son Conrad in the milk house on their farm. Part of the milking is done with automatic electric milkers such as shown in this picture.
Fritz Henle July 1942. Location: East Montpelier.
- Milk cans at the United Farmers’ cooperative creamery.
Jack Delano September 1941. Location: East Berkshire, Franklin, Vermont
- French-Canadian farmers who are gathering corn on a farm near Sheldon, Vermont.
Jack Delano August 1941. Location: Sheldon, Franklin, Vermont
We hope you have enjoyed these pictures of the people and places in Vermont as they showed resilience and determination to withstand the farming industry in Vermont during the Great Depression. Let us know if you like these historical slices of Vermont!
Carl Mydans
Photo by Carl Mydans, August 1936. Location North Troy, Orleans, Vermont.
August 1936. Location: Lowell, Orleans, Vermont
Arthur Rothstein
- Location: Caledonia, Vermont
September 1937. Location: Kirby, Caledonia, Vermont
September 1937. Location: Eden Mills, Lamoille, Vermont
September 1937. Location: Kirby, Caledonia, Vermont
September 1937. Location: Caledonia, Vermont
October 1937.
Location: Eden Mills, Lamoille, Vermont
Marion Post Wolcott
March 1939. Location: Windsor, Vermont
March 1939. Location: Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont
Russell Lee
October 1939. Location: Bradford, Orange, Vermont
October 1939. Location: Bradford, Orange, Vermont
October 1939. Location: Bridgewater, Windsor, Vermont
March 1940. Location: Putney, Windham, Vermont
March 1940. Location: Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont
April 1940. Location: North Bridgewater, Windsor, Vermont
Louise Rosskam
July 1940. Location: Lincoln, Addison, Vermont
July 1940. Location: Bristol, Addison, Vermont
Jack Delano
August 1941. Location: Brattleboro, Windham, Vermont
August 1941. Location: Brandon, Rutland, Vermont
Fritz Henle
July 1942. Location: East Montpelier.
September 1941. Location: East Berkshire, Franklin, Vermont
August 1941. Location: Sheldon, Franklin, Vermont
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