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 [1262]
Genre(s)
- black-and-white photographs [1262]
- photographs [1262]
- group portraits [100]
- landscape photographs [72]
- manuals (instructional materials) [3]
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]
- 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]
- Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie)1882-1972 [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:
Genre: ("photographs")
Title: Winter landscape with farm buildings, Wardsboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
BmlthayerT657 - T660 all same property?
Title: Winter landscape with farm buildings, Wardsboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
BmlthayerT657 - T660 all same property?
Title: Winter scene of hills, Williamsville, Vt
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Winter scene with house in the hills, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Winter scene with with fields and house, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: landscape photographs
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Woman and four girls in a horse and buggy, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Woman dressed in Native American clothing
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Possibly Porter's wife Edith.
Title: Woman in bee suit with a swarm of bees, Newfane, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Woman on the front porch of a house, 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 bmlthayerT714 and T765.
Title: Woman with cat, standing in front of the Wardsboro, Vt Creamery
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Same place as bmlthayerT651 & T652.
Title: Woman working at sewing machines in industrial setting, Newfane, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Women marching in parade, in front of Williamsville church
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1914
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Wooden Hunter Brook Road Bridge, East Dover, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1921
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Wooden and stone bridge over streambed in unknown location in Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Work Begun on the New Mill
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
The second Merrifield mill. See image bmlthayerT742 also.
Title: Workers in front of Wardsboro Sawmill, Wardsboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
bus., sawmill, group port., transport, horses
Title: Workers in front of basket factory, 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
Unclear where basket factory was located in Williamsville.
Title: Young girl with doll inside house
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Could be Maud (Moore) Thayer.
Title: Young men in front of a tent in Vermont
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Sign says Camp Trainclan Hermon.
Title: Young men with 6 oxen team and sled, Marlboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
![Thumbnail: [Pine Crest Farm, Townshend, Vt.]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/thayer/bmlthayerT595-thumb.jpg)
Title: [Pine Crest Farm, Townshend, Vt.]
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1912
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
![Thumbnail: [Wastenah in winter, South Newfane, Vt.]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/thayer/bmlthayerT494-thumb.jpg)
Title: [Wastenah in winter, South Newfane, Vt.]
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1916
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Also see image bmlthayerT459
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