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.) [23]
- Newfane (Vt.) [15]
- Wardsboro (Vt. : Town) [12]
- Dover (Vt. : Town) [8]
- Marlboro (Vt.) [7]
- Jamaica (Vt.) [5]
- Dummerston (Vt.) [4]
- Halifax (Vt. : Town) [4]
- Townshend (Vt.) [3]
- Wilmington (Vt.) [3]
Format(s)
- image [105]
Genre(s)
- black-and-white photographs [105]
- photographs [105]
- group portraits [35]
Topic(s)
- Portrait photography [105]
- Children [43]
- Animals [18]
- Elementary school buildings [16]
- Dwellings [13]
- Horses [5]
- Transportation [5]
- Blacksmithing [4]
- Sawmills [4]
- South Branch School (Marlboro, Vt.) [4]
- Webster family [4]
- Agriculture [3]
- Camping [3]
- Draft animals [3]
- Employees [3]
- Hunting [3]
- Oxen [3]
- Bands (Music) [2]
- Hale, Lucy [2]
- Logging [2]
- Round Schoolhouse (Brookline, Vt.) [2]
- Stagecoaches [2]
- W.J. Metcalf Feed & Stable (Dover, Vt.) [2]
- Automobiles [1]
- Barns [1]
- Betterly family [1]
- Bingham's Mill (Newfane, Vt.) [1]
- Blackface entertainers [1]
- Brattleboro Retreat [1]
- Bridges [1]
- Church buildings [1]
- Holidays [1]
- Indians of North America Clothing [1]
- J.A. Davis' Store (West Dover, Vt.) [1]
- Postal service [1]
- Railroad tracks [1]
- Rivers [1]
- Snow [1]
- Soldiers [1]
- Stores, Retail [1]
- Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie)1882-1972 [1]
- Theaters [1]
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Browsing by:
Genre: ("photographs")
Topic: ("Portrait photography")
Title: Portrait of a man standing outside his house, West Dover, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Portrait of a woman on a bench, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Possibly Lucy Hale, wife of Locke Hale. See bmlthayerT716 and T765.
Title: Portrait of actors in blackface and band members in front of a clabbered building in East Dover, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Nine actors in blackface as part of a minstrel show, with eight band members standing behind them, and a band leader perhaps.
Title: Portrait of an Unidentified Girl
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Portrait of campers in Williamsville, 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: Portrait of students and teachers in front of the Brookline Round Schoolhouse
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Post Office #2, Wardsboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Unidentified man and dog in front of building.
Title: Raymond George Webster and Ruth Thayer in garden
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Raymond George Webster, brother of Mrs. Porter Thayer, in a white suit
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Round School-House, Brookline, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
A pulled back image of round schoolhouse, with woodshed, and students and teacher perched on an automobile, with Rev. George E. Webster, grandfather to Webster Thayer in car. Schoolhouse designed and built by Dr. John Wilson-Thunderbolt.
Title: Ruth Wheeler sitting on a porch with dolls, Willimasville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Sawmill with Workers and Draught Horses in Front, Jamaica, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
See image bmlthayerT291 also.
Title: School Picnic at the South Branch School, Marlboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Six women holding six babies in front of a house in Vermont
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: South Wardsboro School class portrait, Wardsboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: South Wardsboro School class portrait, Wardsboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: South Wardsboro School student and teacher portrait in the woods, Wardsboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: South Wardsboro School student and teacher portrait, Wardsboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1915
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Students of the Leland and Gray Seminary, Townshend, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Thayer family portrait, Newfane, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Porter is sitting in the second row of chairs, on the far right.
Title: The Soap Club of East Dover
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Three children in front of a house, Newfane, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Possibly in Thayer family.
Title: Two babies outside on a fur
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
One may be Ruth Thayer.
Title: Two women and a baby in a stroller by the side of the road, Wardsboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Unidentified African-American under a tree in Windham County, Vermont
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
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