Category: maple history presentations

2025 St. Johnsbury Maple History Tour

I am happy to share that on the afternoon of Saturday, April 19, 2025, I will be leading a special bus tour of historic sites in and around the communities of St. Johnsbury and Danville, Vermont sharing this region’s unique history of maple syrup making. The tour is presented by the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce and the Cary & Main Company.

Participants can register at the Cary & Main website through this link: https://www.caryandmain.com/ or by clicking on the announcement above.

Additional Details

Enjoy the rare opportunity to have an expert historian personally transport and guide you through a unique chapter in the history of Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom while learning about the people and places responsible for St. Johnsbury, Vermont being named the Maple Center of the World.

This tour is offered as special event during the Kingdom Maple Festival in downtown St. Johnsbury.

The tour will be led by maple industry historian and author Dr. Matthew Thomas, a leading expert on the history of the Cary Maple Sugar and Maple Grove companies. Travelling by bus, participants will enjoy a narrated tour that will visit over a dozen locations in and around St. Johnsbury that are important in the history of the Cary and Maple Grove Companies.

   

Participants will receive a one-of-a-kind 120+ page illustrated guidebook authored by Dr. Thomas exclusively for this tour, which features historic images and information on all of the sites visited on the tour.

Because space will be limited, advanced registration is required.
Participants are advised that that there are requirements for physical mobility and that this tour includes walking on uneven ground and navigation of steps on the tour bus.

Registration Link: https://www.caryandmain.com/

Date: Saturday, April 19, 2025
Time: 1:00 – 5:00 pm (approximate return time)
Location: Starting and ending in front of the St. Johnsbury Depot/St. Johnsbury Welcome Center
Cost: $100.00 per person

For Questions, Contact: nekinfo@nekchamber.com or team@caryandmain.com

 

Public Talk on the History of the G.H. Grimm Company – April 23, 2025 – Rutland, Vermont

I am happy to share that on the evening of April 23rd, 2025 in Rutland, Vermont, I will be presenting a public lecture on the history of the G.H. Grimm Manufacturing Company.

This special event is co-sponsored by the Rutland Free Library and the Rutland Historical Society. Although I have previously shared an article on this website about the history of the Grimm Company, this presentation features a deeper look at the Grimm Company and the Grimm family and presents the results of new and more extensive research into the Grimm story.

Of special note is that the lecture will be presented in the Nella Grimm Fox Room at the Rutland Free Library. The Nella Grimm Fox Room is named in honor of Nella Grimm Fox, the daughter of G.H. Grimm, who ran the Grimm Company for over 40 years following the death of her father. Upon her death in 1969, Nella Grim Fox left a substantial financial legacy to the Rutland Free Library which led to the public meeting room being named in her honor.

For more information see this link at the Rutland Free Library website.

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A Champion of the Maple Syrup Industry: The First 100 Years of the G.H. Grimm Company

  • Wednesday, April 23 – 7:00—8:30 PM
  • Nella Grimm Fox Room
  • Rutland Free Library – 10 Court St, Rutland, VT 05701

This presentation traces the origins and evolution of the G.H. Grimm maple syrup equipment company.  Over its first one hundred years, the Grimm Company, with its signature Champion Evaporator, became the leading manufacturer of maple industry equipment in the United States and Canada. The storyline of the presentation follows the Grimm family and the Grimm Company from its start in Hudson, Ohio, to its relocation and settlement in Rutland, Vermont, and on to the opening of its branch operation to Montreal, Québec. New research presents a detailed look at the lives of the Grimm family in Ohio and Vermont and the impact of the Grimm Company in the history of the maple syrup industry.

Dr. Matthew M. Thomas is an independent researcher and is a leading expert on the history of the maple syrup industry. Dr. Thomas has written two maple history books, Maple King: The Making of a Maple Syrup Empire and A Sugarbush Like None Other: Adirondack Maple Syrup and the Horse Shoe Forestry Company. In addition, he shares his research and many published articles on the website www.maplesyruphistory.com.

This program is brought to you by the Rutland Free Library and Rutland Historical Society.