Long Trail Photographs

The Long Trail Collection includes over 900 images of the oldest long-distance hiking trail in the United States: Vermont’s Long Trail. The collection is mainly comprised of black-and-white and hand-colored lantern slides derived from photographs taken between 1912 and 1937. It documents the Green Mountain Club’s building of original trails and shelters and illustrates the enthusiasm for the Long Trail project (and hiking in general) at the turn of the century. These images chronicle the views and landscapes seen by early hikers of the Long Trail and provide an historical record of people associated with the Green Mountain Club’s formative years. The images in this collection were captured by Green Mountain Club members Theron S. Dean and Herbert Wheaton Congdon, both of whom were early contributors to the trail’s development. Congdon surveyed and mapped a large portion of the early trail including a fifty mile stretch from Middlebury Gap to Bolton. Congdon, along with Leroy Little and Clarence Cowles, is also credited with the first winter ascent of Mount Mansfield on February 21, 1920. Dean is perhaps the most prolific documenter of the Long Trail’s development. Dean traveled throughout Vermont presenting slideshows and giving talks about the Long Trail, often to hundreds of people. A number of the original lantern slides in this collection were used by Congdon and Dean in their Long Trail presentations. Dean in particular meticulously cultivated his lantern slide collection and displayed these slides during his many talks. The original slides can be viewed in the Dean and Congdon collections at the University of Vermont Silver Special Collections Library. More information about the Long Trail can be obtained from the Green Mountain Club. The slides were scanned by the University's Landscape Change Program with the generous support of the National Science Foundation. The digitized photographs also appear in the Landscape Change image database at: http://www.uvm.edu/landscape/

Showing 51 - 60 of 918 Records

Merton Leroy Joslyn in Long Trail Patrol Car 2
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    • Date Created: 1933-06
    • Description: A note on the original images states that this photograph was taken at Professor Monroe's (most likely his farm on Camel's Hump). The side of the car reads: "Long Trail Patrol Monroe Skyline."
    • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs


    Mrs. Davis, unknown, oxen, Mr. Herr, and Mr. Henry Davis
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      • Date Created: 1924-05-21 00:00:00
      • Description: Pictured are: Mrs. Davis, unknown, oxen, Mr. Herr, and Mr. Henry Davis. Slide colored by Mrs. Perry.
      • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs


      Twiss and Doctor Pardridge: Twiss admiring his feet
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        • Date Created: 1915-02
        • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs


        Descending Burnt Rock
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          • Description: Slide recolored by Mrs. Perry in March 1929.
          • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs


          Big Birch in Smugglers' Notch
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            • Date Created: 1926-05-20 00:00:00
            • Description: Original notation states that this birch is 1 1/2 miles south of the Barnes Camp. Pictured in this image are: 1. Mr. Hartwell, 2. Mrs. L.S. Dean under the tree, 3. L.S. Dean at left(?), 4. Mrs. Hartwell(?). Slide colored by Mrs. Perry on November 16, 1924.
            • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs


            Jack Frey looking North from Burnt Rock
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              • Date Created: 1918-08
              • Description: Colored by either Congdon or Mrs. Perry.
              • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs


              Bath time at the lodge
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                • Description: Both the person and lodge are unidentified.
                • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs


                Stratton Mountain from Stratton Pond looking East
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                  • Description: The elevation at the point where this photo was taken is 3859 feet. The slide was colored by "K." in Feb, 1929.
                  • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs


                  Indian Pipe Fern
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                    • Description: Text included with this images states that the Indian Pipe Fern is: "A first cousin of the Christmas Fern as fronds remain green all winter. It was known in Europe for many years but not found in America until Frederick Pursh found it in Smugglers Notch in 1807. It has since been found in the White Mountains, Easthills, and Adirondaks and New Brunswick."
                    • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs


                    Trail clearing south of Burnt Rock Mountain
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                      • Date Created: 1916
                      • Description: The men in this image are unidentified.
                      • Parent Collections: Long Trail Photographs