This coming Saturday Castleton will host its 76th Colonial Day House Tour. That’s three generations of women organizers and community members involved in this popular annual event.
Coordinated by the Castleton Woman’s Club, it lasts just six hours, from 10 to 4, but takes months of preparation. More than a dozen private homes and public buildings are on the tour, featuring a variety of architectural styles including Colonial Revival, Federal, Greek Revival, Queen Anne and Gothic Revival.
To keep the old tradition fresh, new elements are often added. This year, in addition to the greeters in period costume at each house, there will be a show of old and new quilts. And one house will feature a huge collection of blue cats in every size and material winding up a staircase. The Blue Cat is an old beloved children’s book set in Castleton.
It’s interesting to consider what keeps a tradition like this going for three quarters of a century in a small Vermont town, when women today, unlike their predecessors, have careers and options for many kinds of community involvement.
It’s not just about the buildings, they explain, although they take great pride in the historic architecture displayed along the town’s Main Street. It’s as much about maintaining a living link with the town’s human history. For one woman, this will be her 59th Colonial Day. She was only eight when first allowed to assist her mother. This year, she and her sister will be joined by daughters and nieces. The costume she wore as a little girl was passed on to the younger generation as she graduated into her mother’s costume.
Activities like this can also inspire in other ways. A Castleton College student who was studying education became so fascinated with the history of the town, and by extension of Vermont and beyond, that she decided to study history instead, and hopes to have a career in documenting historical buildings. She’s about to become the youngest member – by several decades -- of the local historical society, and she’s looking forward to introducing some new technology to the group.
People new to the area can become quickly absorbed into the planning and execution of an event like this. One newcomer notes that there aren’t many better ways to understand a town than through its history.
Sadly, the handsome brick structure that used to house the town offices will stand empty this year. It will be on the auction block before end of summer – an indication, perhaps, that not everyone shares the general admiration and respect for the town’s history after all. And one might think that 75 years of Castleton Colonial Days might be enough. But it seems that tourists and local folks alike still enjoy strolling along Main Street, popping in and out of striking buildings, stopping at the ice-cream social, taking in the music – and most of all - stepping back into a Vermont town’s history for a day.
