Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Louis L. McAllister photographed people and places near Burlington, Vermont for 60 years. He was born in Columbus, Nebraska on October 16, 1876, the son of Julius S. McAllister (born 1841 in Lincoln, VT) and Rosette Gould (born in Vermont in 1851). Julius McAllister worked as a photographer and dentist in Washington D.C., Bristol, Vermont and Columbus, Nebraska. Around 1895, Julius, his third wife Amy, and their children left Nebraska for the Union Soldiers’ Colony in Fitzgerald, Georgia. By 1900, Julius and Amy were divorced, and Amy and her stepson Louis were working as photographers in Thomasville, Georgia.
In 1907 Louis McAllister married Cora Shepard (born about 1872 in Vermont) in Holland, Michigan. By 1910, they were living in Queen City Park in South Burlington, Vermont, where Louis established a photography studio. The McAllisters moved to Burlington, and by 1919 they lived at 47 N. Winooski Avenue. They continued to occupy a summer cottage at Queen City Park, and were active in the Queen City Park Association, which held spiritualist camp meetings annually. McAllister conducted his photography business from home until his death in 1963.
McAllister’s “trademark” was his panorama camera which made him familiar to all sorts of groups ranging from graduating classes to state police to summer camp groups. In addition he did print 8 x 10 photos, many of which document building construction and Burlington Street Department projects, as well as group and individual portraits.
The L.L. McAllister Collection includes portraits, construction projects, buildings, businesses and events in the Burlington area covering the period ca. 1920-1960. The collection also includes photos of street, bridge, airport and sewer construction and repair, as well as group portraits of clubs, schools, etc.
Revised April, 2010
Showing 1 - 10 of 21 Records
Strong Theatre (Burlington, VT)
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- Date Created: 1946
- Description: 1946 photo of the Strong Building, home of Strong Hardware Co. and the Strong Theatre, as well as a drugstore and ice cream shop. Date on the building is 1902. The marquee reads: Abbott and Costello: "The Naughty Nineties," with Alan Curtis. (The movie came out in 1945.) The building was destroyed by arson in 1970, and rubble at the site was used to help build the Burlington bike path.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Theatricals
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- Date Created: 1945-1946
- Description: 1945 / 1946. Three women actors of a dramatic production pose in period dress in a living room setting with a fireplace. Two women wear hanging ribbon like badges. One woman sits in a rocking chair.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Portraits, groups, unidentified
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- Description: A group of men stand in front of what was to become UVM's Royall Tyler Theater on campus in Burlington. It wasn't a theater at the time of this photo. It was a gymnasium. Undated but may be 1920s, 1930s.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Burlington Streets: Main Street (4X5's)
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- Description: Undated (may be late 1920s or early 1930s) overhead view of the continuation of asphalt application over the old brick pavement on Main Street between South Winooski Ave. and Church Street. Note the old trolley car tracks which are being covered up. Cable wires are still strung and barely visible overhead. On the right is the Post Office. Further up the street is the Strong Theatre building.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Theatricals
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- Description: View from the theater balcony of a stage production with an elabotate setting. Cast members are assembled on the lush furniture in the living room set.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Burlington Streets: Main Street (4X5's)
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- Date Created: 1940-03-18
- Description: March 18, 1940 late winter view of Main Street in front of the Strong Theatre building. The Snow King Rotary Snow Plow is mounted on the city street dept Walter's Snow Fighter Truck as it performs snow removal. Note the movie marque at the Strong, "The Marines Fly High" starring Richard Dix and Chester Morris.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Burlington Streets: Winooski Ave.
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- Description: Undated photo of two men with snowplow on skids attached to a Holt tractor so the plow could be pulled. Location is So. Winooski Ave. at the intersection of Main Street. Directly behind is the the Strong building with Strong Hardware Co. at 205-207 Main and a sign also advertising Burlington Motor Sales occupying the first floor.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Burlington Streets: Winooski Ave.
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- Description: Undated but may be 1939 view of So. Winooski Ave. looking south at the intersection of Main Street. To the left men work on street construction project near the corner Herbert Auto Service at 204-206 So. Winooski selling Gulf. To the right is the Strong Theater building and Strong Hardware at 205-207 So. Winooski. A two story tall billboard structure is seen to the west side of the auto service store.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Theatricals
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- Date Created: 1945
- Description: 1944 or 1945 photo of a large group of people on stage; women in long gowns, men in black bow ties and white jackets, Boy Scouts kneeling in front with a sailor.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Strong Theatre (Burlington, VT)
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Image nop
- Date Created: 1946
- Description: 1946 photo of the Strong Building, home of Strong Hardware Co. and the Strong Theatre, as well as Brown's Pharmacy and ice cream shop. Date on the building is 1902. The marquee reads: Abbott and Costello: "The Naughty Nineties," with Alan Curtis. (The movie came out in 1945.) The building was destroyed by arson in 1970, and rubble at the site was used to help build the Burlington bike path.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs