Submitted by Allen Spitzer.
Gihon Valley Hall
While traveling the Green Mountain Byway north on Route 100 from Stowe, you will come to the roundabout in Hyde Park village, where Routes 15 and 100 meet. At this point you have the option of traveling west on Route 15 towards Johnson or taking a right and continuing north on Route 100. It’s refreshing to head towards N. Hyde Park, traveling by the Lanpher Farm (one of the few surviving farms in town) on the left-hand side of the road. It’s a very efficient farm, using modern equipment to manage several hundred cows, with a small crew of family and hired hands. This time of year, you’ll see the vast fields of corn being harvested while at the same time the last of the summer’s lush fields of grass crops are being stored to feed the cows through the winter. Soon you will come to the junction of Vermont Routes 100 and 100c. Do yourself a favor and continue first up Route 100 through the tiny village of N. Hyde Park.
This hamlet was actually the industrial hub of Hyde Park originally, sporting a number of shops, factories and mills. There were blacksmith shops, sleigh manufacturers, several log sawmills, producing lumber for the entire region, and was a busy and bustling village. On your left you’ll see the Gihon Valley Hall which was built in 1910 and progressed from a dance hall, meeting place and town center to the local Grange. In the 1990’s the Grange turned the building over to the town of Hyde Park and is now being rehabilitated again to the village activity center featuring many different events. Currently the building is receiving a new heating system so it can be used year-round. The harvest food festival in early October features music and dance, and is not to be missed.
Just past this hall is a woodworking mill which originally was the first and largest golf tee manufacturing business in the world. Drive another mile and on your left is a wonderful business featuring stone and landscaping supplies in large quantities and just past that on the left is a new building where the Vermont National guard repairs it’s equipment. Please go slow and stop frequently and check out the historic buildings and mills and see what this part of Vermont has to offer.