Sampler Stories at the Dorset Village Library
2025-07-03 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | The Dorset Village Library, Corner of Church Street and Route 30, Dorset
Michele Pagan, Textile Conservator in Private Practice, will be speaking on July 3rd at 6pm at the Dorset Village Library about the VT Sampler Initiative, and how this national effort has been documenting VT 19th century schoolgirl samplers since November 2022.
She will share the techniques which the Initiative uses to uncover clues about the socioeconomics which can be read from each sampler. Additionally in cooperation with the VT 250th Commemoration, she will share some of the stories of the ancestors of the girls who made the samplers, and what their service was during the Revolution. No registration is required.

Ice Cream Social
2025-07-12 13:00 - 15:00 | The Dorset Historical Society Bley House Museum, Corner of Kent Hill Road & Route 30, Dorset, VT, 05251
It’s the annual Dog Days and Ice Cream Social! Join us at the Dorset Historical Society on Saturday, July 12th from 1-3pm for an open house featuring free Wilcox ice cream, and visit the Dorset Village Library across the street for their Dog Days hot dogs!

History Hike: The Pinnacle
2025-07-19 09:00 - 12:00 | The Dorset Historical Society Bley House Museum, Corner of Kent Hill Road & Route 30, Dorset, VT, 05251
Join Kevin O’Toole, and folks from Hike Dorset and the Dorset Historical Society, for a hike to The Pinnacle!
The morning will begin with a bit of history about The Pinnacle at the Dorset Historical Society, then we’ll carpool to the site for a hike. We anticipate being back to the Bley House by noon!

Architectural Gems: Historic Buildings of Dorset and East Rupert
2025-07-22 17:30 - 19:00 | United Church of Dorset, 143 Church Street, Dorset, VT, 05251, United States
Join us for an engaging and in-depth illustrated lecture and discussion about the architecture, history, and development of Dorset and East Rupert, with specific focus on the five houses included in the companion house tour on August 2, 2025. Architectural historian Jennifer Lang and architect Bill Badger will share information about the fascinating history, design, and construction of the houses located in these contiguous communities in the upper Mettawee River Valley, beginning in the late 19th century. This program will be held at the United Church of Dorset and East Rupert, prominently located within the center of the National Register of Historic Places Dorset Village Historic District and adjacent to the green on Church Street.
You may register for the lecture only for $20, or choose to bundle the lecture and the August 2nd house tour for $50.
Dorset resident Jennifer Lang is an architectural historian and conservationist. She has worked in the historic preservation field in New York City, California, and most recently in Hong Kong, where she was the director of the graduate program in architectural conservation at Hong Kong University. Currently, Jennifer writes and consults with UNESCO and ICOMOS on historic preservation projects around the world.
Bill Badger is an experienced local architect and historian with a passion for railroads. He is president of the Rutland Railroad Historical Society and has been a board member of the Manchester Historical Society for many years. Bill’s background includes architectural history and preservation.
This talk will take place on Tuesday, July 22 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at the United Church of Dorset and East Rupert.
Click here to visit the Green Mountain Academy of Lifelong Learning’s website and register.

Author Talk: Jon Mathewson on “Dorset” History Book Commemorating the Dorset Conventions
2025-07-25 18:00 - 19:00 | Northshire Bookstore, 4869 Main St, Manchester Center, VT, 05255, United States
Join us at Northshire Bookstore on July 25th at 6pm to hear Dorset Historical Society Curator Emeritus Jon Mathewson discuss the new book Dorset. The book covers the origins of Dorset and its pictorial history from 1850-1965, but Mathewson’s talk will highlight the era before photography with a special emphasis on the history of the Dorset Conventions.
From 1768 on, people settled in several parts of Dorset, creating 14 school districts and six distinct villages. Discover the industry and recreation of North Dorset, the marble mills of East Dorset, the quarries of South Dorset, and the businesses of Dorset Village, as well as the people who have called Dorset home: Alcoholics Anonymous cofounder Bill Wilson, authors Elizabeth Prentiss and Zephine Humphrey, quarry and orchard entrepreneur Ernest West, and many others.
The Dorset Historical Society has been actively preserving and presenting local history since 1963.

Architectural Gems: Historic House Tour in Dorset and East Rupert
2025-08-02 10:00 - 14:00 | The Dorset Historical Society Bley House Museum, Corner of Kent Hill Road & Route 30, Dorset, VT, 05251
Explore five unique Dorset and East Rupert historic houses at the self-guided GMALL Historic House Tour. GMALL has creatively selected properties that express the unique history and spirit of the upper Mettawee River Valley in southern Vermont representing a diverse range of architectural styles from Federal to Victorian. This tour will offer a rare opportunity to visit inside these intriguing residences, each with a unique history and story to tell. This historic house tour will inspire, delight, and invite appreciation for the stewardship of some of the most charming historic properties in the area. In addition to the house tour, GMALL is offering a companion lecture and discussion about the history and architecture of Dorset and East Rupert on July 22, 2025 from 5:30-7 pm at the United Church of Dorset and East Rupert.
Begin the tour at the Dorset Historical Society where you can pick up your ticket and program and enjoy some refreshments.
$35 for the tour paid in advance
$45 for the tour paid at the door
$50 for the package (tour and lecture on July 22)
This event is rain or shine.
The self-guided Historic House Tour will take place on Saturday, August 2 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, starting at the Dorset Historical Society in Dorset.
Click here to visit the Green Mountain Academy of Lifelong Learning’s website and register.

History Hike: Gettysburg Quarry
2025-08-16 09:00 - 12:00 | The Dorset Historical Society Bley House Museum, Corner of Kent Hill Road & Route 30, Dorset, VT, 05251
Join Kevin O’Toole, and folks from Hike Dorset and the Dorset Historical Society, for a hike to the Gettysburg Quarry!
The morning will begin with a bit of history about the quarry at the Dorset Historical Society, then we’ll carpool to the site for a hike. We anticipate being back to the Bley House by noon!

250th Anniversary Lunchtime Lecture: Rutland County Forts with Joseph Kinney
2025-08-21 12:00 - 13:00 | The Dorset Historical Society Bley House Museum, Corner of Kent Hill Road & Route 30, Dorset, VT, 05251
Join historian and archaeologist Joseph Kinney for a Lunchtime Lecture exploring the Revolutionary War-era forts of Rutland County and how they’ve been remembered, or forgotten, over time. Drawing from his undergraduate thesis and ongoing research, Kinney will introduce attendees to key military sites including Castleton’s Fort Warren, Pittsford’s Fort Vengeance, and Rutland’s Forts Rutland and Ranger.
This talk, titled The Lost Forts of Rutland County: A Discussion of Public Memory of the American Revolution, will trace the history of these forts from the late 18th century through their evolving place in public memory up to the twenty-first century. Whether you’re a longtime Vermonter or new to the area, you’ll gain insight into the region’s overlooked Revolutionary War heritage, and maybe even recognize a few places from your own experience. The lecture will be accompanied by a visual presentation, offering images and maps to bring this history to life.
Joseph Kinney earned his BA in History from Castleton University in 2023, where he participated in the Castleton Hidden History Project. He currently works as a field archaeologist for Heritage Consultants in Connecticut and is pursuing a master’s degree in Historical Archaeology at UMass Boston. His research interests focus on New England’s Revolutionary War and Early Federal period history and material culture. His most recent work explores the 1777 Skirmish of Castleton, an event closely tied to the construction of Fort Warren.

Annual Meeting
2025-10-03 17:30 - 19:00 | The Dorset Historical Society Bley House Museum, Corner of Kent Hill Road & Route 30, Dorset, VT, 05251
Dorset Historical Society
2025 Annual Meeting Notice
FRIDAY OCTOBER 3rd at 5:30 p.m.
The Dorset Historical Society’s Annual Meeting will be held FRIDAY OCTOBER 3rd at 5:30 p.m. at the Dorset Historical Society. If someone cannot attend and they wish to watch the meeting livestreamed on Facebook, please email DHS for instructions.
There will be a review of the events and accomplishments of the past year as well as an acknowledgement of some of the donations to the collection.
The new business will include the election of directors:
Sallyan Pelletier
Donn Hutchins
(Rich Grip)
(Chad Smith)
Immediately following the Annual Meeting, the Board of the Dorset Historical Society will convene to elect the following slate of officers:
President- Rache Simmons
Vice-President- Sallyan Pelletier
Treasurer — Rocco Maggiotto
Secretary — Donn Hutchins
For more information, stop into our offices, go to dorsetvthistory.org, or call DHS at 867-0331.

Fall Festival
2025-10-11 11:00 - 15:00 | Dorset Green
Gather your friends and neighbors – we’re having a Fall Festival!
Please join us on Saturday, October 11th from 11a-3pm for a Fall Festival on the Village Green, hosted by The Union Store. Wagon Rides and games for the kids, local vendors, and a bake sale for The Dorset School’s DPV. Don’t miss this day of fun, food, and community spirit!

Halloween at DHS!
2025-10-31 16:30 - 18:00 | The Dorset Historical Society Bley House Museum, Corner of Kent Hill Road & Route 30, Dorset, VT, 05251
The Dorset Historical Society will be joining other Downtown Dorset Entities handing out candy and our unique Dorset Historical Society Trading Cards to visiting trick or treaters!

Holiday Open House
2025-12-06 11:00 - 14:00 | The Dorset Historical Society Bley House Museum, Corner of Kent Hill Road & Route 30, Dorset, VT, 05251
Join us for our annual Holiday Open House! Taste a selection of sweet treats, and view our newest exhibit on the history of Dorset’s apple orchards.

Author Talk: Tyler Alexander on "If I Can Get Home This Fall: A Story of Love, Loss, and a Cause in the Civil War"
2026-01-30 18:00 - 19:00 | Northshire Bookstore, 4869 Main St, Manchester Center, VT, 05255, United States
On Friday, January 30th at 6pm at Northshire Bookstore, author Tyler Alexander will share the epic story of Dan Mason, a white man who served in the Civil War as a soldier in the Sixth Vermont Infantry and as an officer in the Nineteenth U.S. Colored Troops. It is a story of these two units from very different realities but with a common purpose.
Drawing on Mason’s letters home to his fiancé, Harriet Clark, and on other historical records, Tyler Alexander provides a compelling account of the human cost of war and offers insight about the experiences and attitudes of those who witnessed war firsthand, including enlisted troops and officers, men and women, Democrats and Republicans, and white and Black Americans. Alexander examines how the most controversial issues of the war—emancipation, the draft, military strategy, the arming of Black troops, and Reconstruction policy—were viewed in real time by the participants who found themselves engulfed in the maelstrom of war, particularly those from a strongly anti-slavery farming community in the hills of northeast Vermont. The voices from this distant time offer an example of what real patriotism, courage, and moral conviction look like in times of extreme national divisions over race, identity, and the meaning of democracy.
“These are some of the best and most moving of the thousands of Civil War letters I have encountered. The reader will experience an extraordinary degree of empathy and admiration for Sergeant Dan Mason of the Sixth Vermont Infantry, who subsequently became captain of the Nineteenth U.S. Colored Troops. Tyler Alexander weaves together the letters with biographical and narrative details that tell a remarkable (and tragic) personal, as well as historical, story.”—James M. McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
“In his splendid book, Tyler Alexander brings alive the Civil War experiences of a young fighter in the Vermont Brigade. . . . The narrative features copious, moving letters written by Dan Mason to his sweetheart Harriet Clark and blends these with public accounts of evolving war aims. The result is a vivid account of how a struggle to restore the Union was transformed and how the promise of freedom and democracy to all Americans, regardless of race, was embraced by the rank and file no less than by political leaders. The poignant, gripping, and tragic story speaks to the idealism of the Civil War era and how this history relates to today’s dire challenges.”—Robert Bonner, author of The Soldier’s Pen: Firsthand Impressions of the Civil War
TYLER ALEXANDER is an educator in Vermont who teaches American history and government. He is a former James Madison Fellow and studied forestry, history, and education at the University of Maine and the University of Vermont. One of Alexander’s ancestors served alongside Dan Mason in Company D of the Sixth Vermont.
If you have questions about this or any other Northshire event, please write the fine folks at events@northshire.com.

POSTPONED Lecture: Archaeology and Tribal Historic Preservation: An Uneasy History with Jeffrey C Bendremer Ph.D., RPA
2026-02-25 16:00 - 17:00 | The Dorset Historical Society Bley House Museum, Corner of Kent Hill Road & Route 30, Dorset, VT, 05251
Due to inclement weather, this lecture has been postponed. We appreciate your understanding and plan to reschedule at a future date.
Join us for a lecture on Wednesday, February 25th at 4pm featuring Jeffrey Bendremer, Ph.D, RPA on archaeology and tribal historic preservation. Indigenous communities and archaeologists have often been at odds regarding how best to preserve, protect, investigate and venerate tribal heritage. Between amateur collectors, museums and academic archaeologists, Tribal Nations have often felt that their reverence for their own histories had been subordinated to outsiders who had divergent interests, priorities, ethics and goals. The establishment of Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, a provision of Section 101(d)(2) of the National Historic Preservation Act, became open to federally recognized Indian Tribes since 1996. As a result, tribal governments finally had legally-based regulatory procedures for historic preservation and a statutory basis for asserting culturally appropriate approaches to the treatment of their heritage.
Jeffrey Bendremer, Ph.D, RPA received his doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Connecticut and is currently the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.
Jeff was founder and director of Salish Kootenai College’s Tribal Historic Preservation Program, the only 4-year degree in THP in America, and held professorships at Mercy College, Indiana University, College of New Rochelle, Eastern Connecticut State University and Connecticut College, teaching courses in Native American studies, anthropology, sociology, and history.
Dr. Bendremer has also worked in cultural resource management and public archaeology, including 10 years as Manager of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut’s historic preservation program and NAGPRA Coordinator for the Connecticut Museum of Natural History and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. He has presented and published numerous academic papers on Indigenous history and culture in the northeast. He advocates for better ethics in archaeology, improved partnerships with Indian tribes and cutting-edge methods in historic preservation.
Dorset is located on the ancestral homelands of the Mohican Nation and Stockbridge-Munsee Community.

250 for the 250th
2026-03-06 17:00 - 20:00 | Mt. Anthony Country Club, 180 Country Club Drive, Bennington, VT, 05201, United States
Join the Cause! The Bennington Regional 250th Anniversary Committee is seeking 250 people to donate $250 to support the 250th anniversaries. The money raised will go to support events, educations efforts, creative works, monuments, and special projects related to the 250th anniversaries that started this year and will continue through 2027. This special group of supporters will enjoy discounts on 250th events and merchandise throughout the anniversary period, invitations to special events, an exclusive newsletter, preferred seating at ticketed events, and their signature on a special 250th proclamation which will be on display for the three year anniversary period and will be included in a time capsule at the end of 2027 to be opened in 2077.
Sign up today to attend our inaugural “250 for the 250th” event which will be held on March 6, 2026 from 5-8 pm at Mount Anthony Country Club in Bennington, VT. Sign up at https://www.bennington250.org/. Each donor to this event will receive a special Bennington 250 pin, and a themed lapel pin for each of the three anniversary years, with the 2025 pin honoring the Expedition to Ticonderoga.
Honor history, by becoming part of history!
