Porter C. Thayer Photographs
Collection Overview
This archive contains 1300 photographs made by Porter C. Thayer, scanned from silver gelatin prints, held in the collection of the Brooks Memorial Library. The prints were made in 1980 from the 5x7 glass plates negatives created by Porter Thayer. These images are also available on microfilm at the Brattleboro library.
Porter Thayer was born Porter Charlie Thayer on January 6, 1882 on Main Street in Williamsville, Vermont. He grew up in the red house called the Tillotson Place in the Parish section of Newfane, Vermont.
He photographed Windham County, Vermont, beginning in 1906 through around 1920. Like most Vermont men of his generation he was a farmer, specifically an apple orchardist, managing his 50 acre apple orchard on Baker Brook Farm in Newfane. He turned to his apple business after ending his photographic career.
The postcard craze that most likely reached Vermont by about 1905, was perhaps the impetus for Porter Thayer starting up a photographic business. His diaries tell that he sold 1,197 postal cards during a six-month period at the height of his career. The cards were for sale as souvenirs to summer tourists at small general stores, local inns, boarding houses and hotels. Local folks purchased his photographs as well, especially around the Christmas season, to send to distant relatives. A Brattleboro, Vermont directory of 1909 lists Porter as advertising that he would come to anyone’s home and make images for a reasonable fee. Around 1911 he recorded that he had 720 customers. Eventually he photographed in all the towns within a 25 mile radius of his home in Newfane.
Porter Thayer perfectly fits the archetype of the town photographer. He traveled the narrow dirt roads in his buggy, behind his faithful mare Lady, who accompanied him daily. He could apparently take extended naps while Lady brought him safely home, as she always knew the way. He used two cameras: a 5 x 7 and a 6.5 x 8.5 view camera and made glass dry-plate negatives. He traveled with stacks of postcards to be delivered at stores along the way to his days work.
Working continually through seasons and years, Porter Thayer left an archive that is a cultural treasure for southeastern Vermont. The quality of his work shows that he was able to combine business needs with aesthetic ones. During the time period Porter worked, Vermont was extremely poor and rural, yet held a close-knit population that shared the labors of life. Farmers helped one another to survive in a subsistence and barter economy. For women, men, and children, life meant constant work. Thayer’s images describe the work and the tools involved. His landscape images reveal this working landscape, which today is mostly hidden by trees. The fruits of his labor as a photographer have grown in importance, as both the landscape and culture of Vermont has shifted into modern spheres of living.
Written by Jessica Weitz and Forrest Holzapfel, 2010.
Time Period Covered: 1906 - 1920
Published: October 11, 2010,
Rights: The William Thayer Family and heirs hold copyright to the Porter Thayer Photographs collection. Material in the collection may not be used without permission. For permission requests, contact Bill Thayer at billthayer08@gmail.com
Browse Options
Creator(s)
Place(s)
- Dummerston (Vt.) [44]
- West River Valley (Vt.) [4]
Format(s)
- image [44]
Genre(s)
- black-and-white photographs [44]
- photographs [44]
- landscape photographs [4]
- group portraits [3]
Topic(s)
- Dwellings [14]
- Roads [14]
- Business [8]
- Rivers [6]
- Agriculture [5]
- Portrait photography [4]
- Transportation [4]
- Bridges [3]
- Children [3]
- Quarries and quarrying [3]
- Railroad tracks [3]
- Stone walls [3]
- Cemeteries [2]
- Farms [2]
- Fences [2]
- Natural disasters [2]
- Taverns (Inns) [2]
- Architecture, Victorian [1]
- Automobiles [1]
- Barns [1]
- C.S. Wilkins General Store and Inn (East Dummerston, Vt.) [1]
- Covered bridges [1]
- Dams [1]
- Employees [1]
- Horses [1]
- Machinery [1]
- Maple syrup [1]
- Photography of interiors [1]
- Railroad trains [1]
- Snow [1]
- Stagecoaches [1]
- Stores, Retail [1]
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Browsing by:
Place: ("Dummerston (Vt.)")
Title: Baptist Church, W. Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Betterly Homestead
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
See images bmlthayerT155,T157, T158, and T171also.
Title: Betterly Homestead, Looking East
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
See images bmlthayerT155,T158, T159 , and T171 also.
Title: Betterly Homestead, Looking West
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
See image bmlthayerT155, T157, T159 and T171 also.
Title: Black Mt., Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Taken from Route 30 in the winter.
Title: C.S. Wilkins General Store and Inn, East Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1916
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: C.V. Train, West Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Cong'l Church, Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Dummerston School Class Portrait with Teacher
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Unidentified students and teacher. See image bmlthayerT168 also.
Title: Dummerston School Class Portrait with Teacher
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Unidentified students and teacher. See image bmlthayerT167 also.
Title: Dummerston covered bridge, West Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1921
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Dummerston road with Cemetery on the Right
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Farmhouse with large locust trees on Route 5 in East Dummerston
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Farmhouse with windmill in East Dummerston, off Route 5
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Was Dr. Baldwin's house in early 1980s.
Title: Grange Hall, Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Henry Wilson's Cornfield on Dummerston Hill
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: House in "Slab Hollow", East Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: House in Dummerston
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Large House on a Hill in Dummerston
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Large House with Wrap-Around Porch in East Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Large house next to bridge and river in East Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Locust Ave., East Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Main Street looking North with Wilkin's Inn on Right
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Main Street, West Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
See image bmlthayerT147 also.
Title: Main Street, West Dummerston, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Same image as bmlthayerT147.
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