Northern Vermont [Boston & Maine Railroad]

The 4th edition of an interesting Gilded Age railway guide to Northern Vermont.

This attractive guidebook, authored by M.F. Sweetser, was printed in 1892 and distributed by the Passenger Department of the Boston & Maine Railroad. It formed part of a broader body of late-19th-century promotional literature designed to encourage rail travel from New England’s urban centers to vacation destinations throughout the region.

The contents are divided into six chapters: “Northward Bound,” “The Vermont Border,” “Willoughby Lake,” “Newport and Lake Memphremagog,” “The Green Mountains,” and “Lake Champlain.” Price lists, recommended accommodations, steamship connections, and other practical information for travelers supplement the text and illustrations.

The booklet includes three fold-out maps. “A Tourist Map of the Boston and Maine Railroad” (approximately 21.5 x 15 inches) presents an elevated pictorial view of the railroad system, with a hot-air balloon floating above the St. Lawrence River. “Boston and Maine Railroad Passumpsic Division” (8 x 16.75 inches) emphasizes routes between White River Junction, Vermont, and Sherbrooke, Quebec. “St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad and Connections” (15.25 x 10 inches) depicts the railway network linking Burlington and Swanton, on Lake Champlain, with St. Johnsbury and connecting lines.