Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Collection Overview
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)...
Show moreLouis 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
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Related Archival Collection
Pages
- Title
- Portraits - Individuals
- Description
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Mid 1940s interior view of a large high tin ceiling room with sewing machines, a large central table and patterns attached to the wall
- Title
- Portraits - Individuals
- Description
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A workman uses a wrench to tighten a bolt as he works on a vertical chute or conveyor belt. He stands in an open commercial room with a brick floor. Heavy industrial size pipes seen in background to the left. Dated 1951.
- Title
- Portraits - Individuals
- Description
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Mid 1940s interior view of a large high tin ceiling room with sewing machines, a large central table and patterns attached to the wall
- Title
- Portraits - Individuals
- Description
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A workman uses a wrench to tighten a bolt on a heavy piece of machinery. He stands in an open commercial room with a brick floor. Heavy industrial size pipes seen. He rests his foot on a metal box with a handle and mesh screen top. Dated 1951.
- Title
- Portraits - Unidentified Groups
- Description
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1957 or 1958 photo of what may be a high school vocational workshop class. Adult instructor stands to the far left while boys work the woodworking machines.
- Title
- Portraits - Unidentified Groups
- Description
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1957 or 1958 photo of what may be a high school vocational workshop class. Adult instructor stands to the far left while boys work the woodworking machines.
- Title
- Road Construction
- Description
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September 10, 1928. Crew members work with a tank truck pouring and smoothing road surface on a strip of road.
- Title
- Road Construction
- Description
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Dated 1928. Road crew work with machinery smoothing the newly laid pavement.
- Title
- Road Construction
- Description
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September 10, 1928. Workmen, bags of cement, trucks, machinery and road side billboards all are seen at this road construction site. On the photo's left side is seen strung lines to plumb the straight edge of the road side.
- Title
- Road Construction
- Description
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August 28, 1931. View of a Burlington residential street under construction. Members of the road crew of the Burlington Street Dept work along side a cement mixer. Piles of bags of Lone Star are seen lined all along the work site.
- Title
- Sewer Tile Construction Plant
- Description
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March 4, 1937. View of work man and machinery at a sewer pipe construction plant. Pipes were once made of clay or concrete tiles formed around a hollow core. Could this be the Justis Vault Co. on Riverside Ave, Burlington?
- Title
- Sewer Tile Construction Plant
- Description
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March 5, 1937. This view shows the inside of the room used for cutting, rolling and electrically welding the wire reinforced baskets used as reinforcements for the concrete sewer pipe. Could this be the Justis Vault Co. on Riverside Ave, Burlington?
- Title
- Sewer Tile Construction Plant
- Description
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Undated but probably March 1937. This view shows the asphalt mixer scales, asphalt bucket, etc\x85 used in weighting and mixing the concrete for the manufacture of the reinforced concrete sewer tile. All aggregates were heated in the dryer, screened into bins, and batched by weight. The water was...
Show moreUndated but probably March 1937. This view shows the asphalt mixer scales, asphalt bucket, etc\x85 used in weighting and mixing the concrete for the manufacture of the reinforced concrete sewer tile. All aggregates were heated in the dryer, screened into bins, and batched by weight. The water was also weighed in the asphalt bucket with the dial scales in the foreground. See also mcalA17F02i10
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- Title
- Sewer Tile Construction Plant
- Description
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March 4, 1937. View of some machinery at a sewer tile construction plant.
- Title
- Sewer Tile Construction Plant
- Description
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March 4, 1936 (1937?) This view shows the asphalt mixer scales, asphalt bucket, etc\x85 used in weighting and mixing the concrete for the manufacture of the reinforced concrete sewer tile. All aggregates were heated in the dryer, screened into bins, and batched by weight. Also seen are bags of...
Show moreMarch 4, 1936 (1937?) This view shows the asphalt mixer scales, asphalt bucket, etc\x85 used in weighting and mixing the concrete for the manufacture of the reinforced concrete sewer tile. All aggregates were heated in the dryer, screened into bins, and batched by weight. Also seen are bags of Lone Star cement. See also mcalA17F02i11
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- Title
- Shelburne Shipyard
- Description
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Two crew men from the Shelburne Shipyard stand on the huge boat cradle that is partially submerged in the waters of Lake Champlain.
- Title
- Shelburne Shipyard
- Description
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Photo of the heavy chains part of the machinery that maneuvers the heavy boats at the Shelburne Shipyard.
- Title
- Shelburne Shipyard
- Description
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View of the Marine Railway building at Shelburne Shipyard with some of its machinery. Erected 1929 for the Champlain Transportation Company.
- Title
- Shelburne Shipyard
- Description
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Part of the rails, roller tracks, chains and machinery used in maneuvering large boats at the Shelburne Shipyard. This is at the water's edge.
- Title
- Shelburne Shipyard
- Description
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View while on the cradle hauled out on track looking toward the Marine Railway building at the Shelburne Shipyard. Undated but late 1920s, early 1930?