North Williston: Down Depot Hill

With the advent of the railroad in 1849, North Williston changed from a small collection of farms to a thriving economic center in Chittenden County. Transportation access spurred industries such as Smith Wright’s cold storage plant, a butter tub factory and a gristmill. The general store, with the telephone switchboard and the post office, served as the community’s central gathering place during the village’s prosperity. Richard H. Allen has drawn on a wide variety of sources to capture the essence of this era, and perhaps most enchanting are the words of North Williston residents who recall the time before rail service declined and the village all but disappeared.