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)
- Williamsville (Vt.) [250]
- Newfane (Vt.) [196]
- Jamaica (Vt.) [100]
- Wardsboro (Vt. : Town) [92]
- Brattleboro (Vt.) [84]
- Townshend (Vt.) [66]
- Dover (Vt. : Town) [65]
- Wilmington (Vt.) [54]
- Dummerston (Vt.) [44]
- Marlboro (Vt.) [40]
- Putney (Vt.) [34]
- Londonderry (Vt.) [31]
- Halifax (Vt. : Town) [26]
- Searsburg (Vt.) [22]
- West River Valley (Vt.) [20]
- Ames Hill Road (Brattleboro, Vt.) [16]
- Jacksonville (Vt.) [16]
- Western Avenue (Brattleboro, Vt.) [14]
- Westminster (Vt.) [12]
- Brookline (Vt.) [11]
- Baker Brook Road (Vt.) [10]
- Merrifield Mill (Williamsville, Vt.) [10]
- Guilford (Vt.) [9]
- Connecticut River [8]
- Higley Hill Road (Vt.) [6]
- Vernon (Vt.) [6]
- Mountain Mills (Wilimington, Vt.) [4]
- South Pond (Vt.) [4]
- Green Mountains (Vt.) [2]
- Stratton (Vt.) [2]
- Peaked Mountain (Vt.) [1]
Format(s)
- image [1268]
Genre(s)
- black-and-white photographs [1262]
- photographs [1262]
- group portraits [100]
- landscape photographs [72]
- bulletins [5]
- manuals (instructional materials) [3]
- technical reports [1]
Topic(s)
- Dwellings [318]
- Roads [277]
- Business [204]
- Children [153]
- Landscape photography [148]
- Church buildings [87]
- Bridges [85]
- Snow [74]
- Farmhouses [70]
- Elementary school buildings [67]
- Holidays [67]
- Animals [66]
- Barns [66]
- Taverns (Inns) [55]
- Parades [54]
- Photography of interiors [51]
- Stores, Retail [48]
- Fences [47]
- Sawmills [45]
- Agriculture [44]
- Stone walls [42]
- Railroad tracks [38]
- Dams [34]
- Oxen [31]
- Thayer family [30]
- Automobiles [28]
- Neighborhoods [28]
- Covered bridges [27]
- Employees [23]
- Maple syrup [23]
- Construction projects [22]
- Family [22]
- Railroad trains [19]
- Logging [18]
- Vacation homes [17]
- Cemeteries [16]
- Draft animals [16]
- Teachers [16]
- Natural disasters [14]
- Postal service [14]
- Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie)1882-1972 [12]
- Apples [10]
- Birds-eye view [10]
- Fairs [10]
- Hunting [10]
- Mines and mineral resources [10]
- Valley Fair (Brattleboro, Vt.) [10]
- Bands (Music) [9]
- Machinery [9]
- Brattleboro Retreat [8]
- Courthouses [8]
- Crops [8]
- Farms [8]
- Forests and forestry [8]
- Ponds [8]
- Casson, Ben [7]
- Statues [7]
- Theaters [7]
- Baseball [6]
- Betterly family [6]
- Blacksmithing [6]
- Camping [6]
- Dairying [6]
- Dexter, E. M [6]
- South Branch School (Marlboro, Vt.) [6]
- Stagecoaches [6]
- Webster family [6]
- Advertising [5]
- Architecture, Victorian [5]
- Boats and boating [4]
- Cows [4]
- H.A. Williams Store (Williamsville, Vt.) [4]
- Indians of North America Clothing [4]
- J.A. Muzzy & Co. Store (Jamaica, Vt.) [4]
- Libraries [4]
- Onlya Farm (Brattleboro, Vt.) [4]
- Police [4]
- Quarries and quarrying [4]
- Round Schoolhouse (Brookline, Vt.) [4]
- Spinning machinery [4]
- Bank buildings [3]
- Camps [3]
- Hale, Lucy [3]
- Lakes [3]
- Morse, J. E [3]
- Prisons [3]
- Stratton family [3]
- Street-railroads [3]
- Architecture, Colonial [2]
- Bicycles [2]
- Bingham's Mill (Newfane, Vt.) [2]
- Blackface entertainers [2]
- Boy Scouts [2]
- F.B. Stone's Sawill (Halifax, Vt.) [2]
- Flood damage [2]
- Green Mt. Inn (W. Dover, Vt.) [2]
- Haying equipment [2]
- J.A. Davis' Store (West Dover, Vt.) [2]
- Jamaica Lumber Company (Jamaica, Vt.) [2]
- L.T. Landman General Merchandise Store (South Londonderry, Vt.) [2]
- Sheep [2]
- Soldiers [2]
- Swine [2]
- Taft, William H. (William Howard)1857-1930 [2]
- W.J. Metcalf Feed & Stable (Dover, Vt.) [2]
- Weavers [2]
- Architecture, Gothic [1]
- C.S. Wilkins General Store and Inn (East Dummerston, Vt.) [1]
- Cattle [1]
- Howe's Mill Dam (East Dover, Vt.) [1]
- Interior architecture [1]
- Moody's Store (E. Dover, Vt.) [1]
- Pierce, Delbert [1]
- Prouty's Mill (East Dover, Vt.) [1]
- Stoves, Wood [1]
- Textile workers [1]
- Trolley buses [1]
- Veterans [1]
- Whitaker's Store (Newfane, Vt.) [1]
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Browsing by:
Format: ("image")
Title: Actors from a play in Willimasville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Actors from a play in Willimasville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Actors from a play in Willimasville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Air Castle Farm, Higley Hill Rd., Wilmington, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Albee & Fitch Store, Townshend, 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: Another view of the old Thayer farmhouse, Newfane, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Appendix: Brattleboro Reformer article, January 11, 1972
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Resource type: bulletins
Title: Appendix: Brochure from Images from Our Past Exhibit
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Resource type: manuals (instructional materials)
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Appendix: Brochure from Images from Our Past Exhibit, page 2
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Resource type: manuals (instructional materials)
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Appendix: Brochure from Images from Our Past Exhibit, page 3
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Resource type: manuals (instructional materials)
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Appendix: One of the original cataloging card for the Porter Thayer collection
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Resource type: technical reports
From the original cataloging of the Porter Thayer Collection at Brooks Memorial Library in the early 1980's.
Title: Appendix: Porter Thayer's Daybook, cover
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Resource type: bulletins
One of the notebooks Porter Thayer used to record information about his photographs and equipment purchases.
Title: Appendix: Porter Thayer's Daybook, page
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Resource type: bulletins
A page from one of the notebooks Porter Thayer used to record information about his photographs and equipment purchases.
Title: Appendix: Porter Thayer's Daybook, page
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Resource type: bulletins
A page from one of the notebooks Porter Thayer used to record information about his photographs and equipment purchases.
Title: Appendix: Vermont Life article about Porter Thayer's images
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Resource type: bulletins
Title: Arch Bridge from below, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Basket factory in the background.
Title: Arch Bridge, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Arch Bridge, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Basket mill in background.
Title: Arch Bridge, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Basket mill on right and cider mill on left.
Title: Arch Bridge, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1908
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
New mill construction in the background.
Title: Arch Bridge, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Second basket mill on left.
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: Arrival of Pres. Taft, at Townshend, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Asher's Mill with workers out front, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
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