Winooski’s Centennial Historical Walking Tour

As a part of Winooski’s Centennial celebration, a historical walking tour of the city has been arranged so residents can learn a bit about the history of the Onion City.

The Heritage Winooski Mill Museum and the Winooski Historical Society have compiled a list of 18 historically relevant sites around the city. Corresponding to the list is a digital map with every site’s location and description.

Champlain Mills building

“We were really trying to put in a variety of stops that showed a broader picture of the history,” said Miriam Block of the Heritage Winooski Mill Museum.

The sites range from businesses, municipal buildings, churches, and homes, each with its own story which is conveniently located in their pamphlet. This range of historical buildings tells a story of Winooski’s past: who lived there, what they did, and how they lived.

Businesses such as Champlain Mills, Porter Screen Factory, and Richard’s Furniture Factory (current site of the O’Brien Community Center) gave good insight as to what the old residents of Winooski did for work, highlighting the industry of the city. 

St Francis Xavier Church

Many of the sites on the walking tour belong to churches. There are a variety of different churches on the tour, showing the broad range of spiritual beliefs that Winooski’s former residents held. St. Stephen’s Church and St. Francis Xavier Church were once an important places for Winooski’s Irish and French-Canadian immigrants, and the Methodist Church (while the building was rebuilt just over a century ago due to a fire), holds the honor of being the oldest religious organization in the city.

Certain homes of significance give some insight to the residents of Winooski who made an impact on their community. For instance, the LeClair House, built by Francois LeClair, a prominent French-Canadian businessman who made a positive impact on the community by helping other immigrants by financing their homes. Today the building houses the Regular Veterans Association.

Winooski Block

The tour also features some commonly seen landmarks of Winooski, and explains their origin. The brochure offers historical significance to buildings like the Winooski Block, which sits on the site of Ira Allen’s home, and the Old Stone House, a former tavern that housed the Winooski Historical Society for a time. 

Old Stone House

Some of the landmarks are no longer standing, but the walking tour still shows where they once stood. The Central Vermont Railroad Station, the Winooski Steamer Company (fire station), and the original Winooski High School were all destroyed years ago, but thanks to the interactive map, which includes pictures, visitors can picture what the buildings looked like originally.  

The tour is easy and leisurely. All of the historical sites on the route are a convenient walking distance, and walking to all 18 sites takes less than two hours.

All photos by Mal Flynn.