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)
- Brattleboro (Vt.) [84]
- Ames Hill Road (Brattleboro, Vt.) [16]
- Western Avenue (Brattleboro, Vt.) [13]
- Connecticut River [4]
- West River Valley (Vt.) [2]
Format(s)
- image [84]
Genre(s)
- black-and-white photographs [84]
- photographs [84]
- landscape photographs [13]
Topic(s)
- Roads [25]
- Dwellings [19]
- Neighborhoods [14]
- Landscape photography [13]
- Fairs [10]
- Horses [7]
- Children [6]
- Transportation [6]
- Automobiles [5]
- Holidays [5]
- Natural disasters [5]
- Stone walls [5]
- Advertising [4]
- Agriculture [4]
- Farms [4]
- Onlya Farm (Brattleboro, Vt.) [4]
- Parades [4]
- Animals [3]
- Cemeteries [3]
- Draft animals [3]
- Farmhouses [3]
- Fences [3]
- Oxen [3]
- Police [3]
- Street-railroads [3]
- Barns [2]
- Church buildings [2]
- Flood damage [2]
- Logging [2]
- Architecture, Gothic [1]
- Architecture, Victorian [1]
- Bands (Music) [1]
- Bicycles [1]
- Bridges [1]
- Covered bridges [1]
- Cows [1]
- Dams [1]
- Forests and forestry [1]
- Haying equipment [1]
- Portrait photography [1]
- Railroad tracks [1]
- Railroad trains [1]
- Soldiers [1]
- Taverns (Inns) [1]
- Trolley buses [1]
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Browsing by:
Author: ("Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972")
Place: ("Brattleboro (Vt.)")
Title: "Only a Farm" on Ames Hill Road, Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Ames Hill Road, Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Birch-lined section of Ames Hill Road in Brattleboro, with farm fencing visible.
Title: Arrival at Cemetery, Memorial Day,.09.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Police leading parade at Prospect Hill cemetery on Memorial Day.
Title: Asylum Meadow, two women having a picnic on a hillside with a dog
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Auto Parade, Valley Fair
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
See images bmlthayer T64 & bmlthayer T68 as well.
Title: Auto Parade, Valley Fair, Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Valley Fair automobile parade with onlookers behind a fence and an Opera House advertisement banner. See images bmlthayer T68 & bmlthayer T69 as well.
Title: Auto Parade, Valley Fair, Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
See images bmlthayer T64 & bmlthayer T69 as well.
Title: Birds-Eye View, Asylum Meadow, Apr.16, .09.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Looking down on the Retreat Meadows (Asylum Meadows) with mountains in the background.
Title: Birds-Eye View, Asylum Meadow, Apr.16, .09.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
The Retreat Meadows (Asylum Meadows) from above, with Retreat building tops visible.
Title: Birds-Eye View, Asylum Meadow, Apr.16, .09.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
View looking South of the Retreat Meadows (Asylum Meadows), Retreat buildings in far distance; Retreat Farm (?) in foreground.
Title: Birds-Eye View, West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Looking down on Western Ave on an unidentified homestead.
Title: Brattleboro Retreat Farm, with horse and wagons out front, Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Brattleboro Retreat's Lawton Hall, Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Bull Run, Ames Hill, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
A quirky cabin on Ames Hill Road in Western Brattleboro with stripped logs as porch supports.
Title: Cong'l. Church, W. Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Looking south on Western Avenue at church front.
Title: Cows, Bradley Farm, Brattleboro
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Bradley Farm cows in wooded area, near old milk plant & rollerdome, on Route 5, near bridge.
Title: Crowd at Cemetery, Memorial Day,.09.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Photograph taken at the Prospect Hill cemetery.
Title: Davis Falls, W. Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Dummerston Hill Road, W. Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Road now called Sunset Lake Road. The image shows a farmhouse on the right and farm fence along the road.
Title: Edward Pratt and his Oxen with logs, in the snow, Dover, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Winter scene of Edward Pratt holding a switch, next to team of oxen, attached to a log sled, more logs in background. See image bmlthayer T90 also.
Title: Edward Pratt and his Oxen with logs, in the snow, Dover, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Winter scene of Edward Pratt holding a switch, next to team of oxen, attached to a log sled, more logs in background. See image bmlthayer T89 also.
Title: Elliott St., Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Pedestrians strolling in residential neighborhood on Elliott street, horse and cart visible.
Title: Exhibition of Fine Horses, Valley Fair.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Far Hills, Ames Hill, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Flooding of Hunt Farm, near Connecticut River
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 3393
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
House halfway underwater after flooding disaster, on Vernon Rd. in Brattleboro.
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