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:
Place: ("Brattleboro (Vt.)")
Title: Gothic Cottage, Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Reverend Lewis Grout House, and Stockwell House next door? Information from original catalog record.
Title: Haying near Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Weslie Rockwell on hay cart, pulled by oxen team, in a field in Brattleboro.
Title: High St., Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
West end of High Street, near Western Avenue; Crowell Lot?
Title: High St., Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
High Street, east of Western avenue with visible trolley tracks.
Title: Hill Crest, Ames Hill, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Hillcrest Farm, owned by Dr. Herbert Barry, buildings in distance, horse in foreground, on Ames Hill Road in Western Brattleboro. See image bmlthayerT40 also.
Title: Hill Crest, Ames Hill, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Dr. Herbert Barry's house "Hill Crest", on Ames Hill Road in Western Brattleboro. See image bmlthayerT39 also.
Title: Hill Scenery, West 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
A large agricultural field and farm buildings in the distance, in Western Brattleboro, near Sunset Lake Road.
Title: Hill Scenery, West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
View of village of Brattleboro from behind the Congressional Church; steeple is visible.
Title: Hill Scenery, West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Locke Farm (what is now the Chelsa House) on Sunset Lake Road.
Title: Home for the Aged, Western Ave, Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Now Holton Home.
Title: Homewood Farm, Ames Hill, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Homewood Farm, also known as Meadowbrook Farm, a summer home with large wrap-around porch and small footbridge; on Ames Hill Road in Western Brattleboro.
Title: Horse Race at Valley Fair.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Ice jam on Island Park, looking toward New Hampshire
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Ice jam with collpased grand stand on Island Park
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: J.L. Stockwell's Store, W. Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Storefront of J.L. Stockwell store, Western Avenue.
Title: Main St., West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Looking south above liquor store on Western Avenue.
Title: Main St., West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Western Avenue (Main Street) looking toward village square.
Title: Main St., West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Octagonal house, second house in, near Stockwell's Store on Western Avenue; some negative damage.
Title: Main St., West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Looking north towards Hayes Tavern, trolley tracks visible.
Title: Main St., West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Man standing on porch, Upper Forest Street, Brattleboro
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Marlboro Road, West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Marlboro Road (now Route 9) heading out of Brattleboro to the West. A Victorian house seen on the right.
Title: Melrose Hospital, West Brattleboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Memorial Day celebration with marching band at Prospect Hill cemetery
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Mrs. Austin Powell in a carriage at the Brattleboro Retreat Farmhouse
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
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