SIA 2010 Fall Tour
Vermont • September 16-19, 2010

THURSDAY, September 16, 2010 

Tour T1: IA of Windsor/Springfield (early departure, all day tour) 

Note: The Thursday optional tour T1 is now full with many on the waiting list.

American Precision Museum (1846) originally the Robbins & Lawrence Armory. Jet Lowe, HAER

We will leave from Montpelier and drive to Windsor to visit the American Precision Museum.  We will tour the museum's machine tool collection, and Christopher Marston and John Johnson will discuss the HAER documentation of the waterwheel pit.  We will then take a short walk to the Cornish-Windsor covered bridge, the longest covered bridge in the country. We will then proceed to the Harpoon Brewery.  Here members will have the option to tour the brewery or the Simon Pearce Glass Blowing Studio next door.  Lunch and beer samples will follow at the brewery. After lunch we will head to Springfield, where we will tour some of the machine tool manufacturers located along the Black River. Lovejoy Tool (1900) is still active and produces specialty tool parts for heavy industry.  We will also visit the former Fellows Gear Shaping Mill (1897) which is undergoing conversion into a health center and mixed use development. At our final stop, we will examine the Stellafane group's collection of historic telescopes at the Hartness-Porter Museum of Amateur Telescope Making.

Opening Reception Vermont Historical Society (VHS), Downtown Montpelier - evening. 

The state's premier history museum and bookstore will be open during the reception. Local Vermont food and beverage will be featured at a sit down meal.  The evening program will include welcoming comments from Vermont SHPO Giovanna Peebles, and an introduction to Barre-area granite quarry history from Todd Paton, Director of Visitor Services for Rock of Ages.

Logistics

Weather in mid-September can be variable, with hot humid days still possible, and cool nights. Rain is possible. 

All of the usual SIA Road Rules will apply. Take special note of the hard hat requirement for the Friday Granite Tour (F1) and the shoe requirements for the Saturday Copper Mine Tour (S1). Please note the SIA Policy on Refunds. Tours and content are always subject to change, including cancellation.

Society for Industrial Archeology Email: sia@mtu.edu Tel.: 906-487-1889