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
- Stores - Humphrey's (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1945-1946
- Description
-
1945 / 1946 storefront window display for men's clothing store Humphrey's once located in Burlington at 85 Church Street. Shows men's jackets, slacks, belts and enhanced with large photo portraits of dogs.
- Title
- Stores - IGA (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1953
- Description
-
Grocery store display with grocer present, perhaps in Alarie's IGA at 203 No. Champlain St. or at the corporate office, 747 Pine St.
- Title
- Stores - IGA (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
IGA storefront with, probably, owner and staff in doorway. Name of store unfortunately unreadable because of glare but could be Alarie's or Burns's.
- Title
- Stores - IGA (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1953
- Description
-
Grocery store display, perhaps in Alarie's IGA at 203 No. Champlain St. or at the corporate office, 747 Pine St.
- Title
- Stores - IGA (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Interior of an IGA store, perhaps Burns's on 72 King St. or Alarie's, 203 No. Champlain St.: well-stocked shelves and a prominent American flag.
- Title
- Stores - IGA (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
IGA storefront in Burlington, Vt. (City Directory of 1946 does not list this business.) Identity of couple uncertain but very likely the owner and a customer.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
-
Blanket and Drapery Shop. Also, some tableware on the lower shelves.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
-
Blanket and drapery store, perhaps the one in mcalB18F29i01.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Clothing and cosmetics store seen in mcalB18F29i22, but from a different angle. Spring and summer fashions, plus a sign (upper right corner) reminding "Women: our wounded need your care." Sponsor of the sign campaign unknown.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1943
- Description
-
Scene in a bookstore or convenience store. Saturday Evening Post edition on display is dated Oct. 2, 1943. Store personnel look on attentively as a soldier and a man--either a customer or manager--discuss some item in the Post. Business and purpose of photo unknown, but advertising or trade...
Show moreScene in a bookstore or convenience store. Saturday Evening Post edition on display is dated Oct. 2, 1943. Store personnel look on attentively as a soldier and a man--either a customer or manager--discuss some item in the Post. Business and purpose of photo unknown, but advertising or trade illustration likely.
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- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
"Clothing and Cosmetics Store." Ladies apparel, very likely spring and summer fashions. 2 signs advertise Saybury Robes and House Coats.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1935
- Description
-
Drugstore. Same drugstore as in mcalB18F29i03 but seen from the entrance, which reveals a soda fountain with several stools on the right and more shelves of products at the far end of the store.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1936
- Description
-
Drugstore. Well-stocked shelves and two or more tables for light meals and beverages.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1952
- Description
-
1952 photo of possibly an I.G.A. store interior, with display of beer, crackers, cheese spreads, and other grocery items.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Bookstore or magazine shop (see mcalB18F29i11). Employees and a customer (?) looking at the Saturday Evening Post (edition dated 2 Oct., 1943). Selection seems to have mostly popular and pulp fiction titles.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
-
"Blanket and Drapery Shop." Also a fabric store, with 3 employees ready to sell Paradise Prints.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1952
- Description
-
Store interior, possibly I.G.A. (see mcalB18F29i07 and -i08), with display of weekend essentials.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Obviously a display for gloves but also for some unidentifiable products that promise some excitement. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the use of the word "dynamite" to indicate that something is powerful or impressive dates from the early 1940s.
- Title
- Stores - Lowe Brothers (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
207-211 College Street : Lowe Brothers paint store, now the site of Three Needs pub and Zabby's Stone Soup restaurant.
- Title
- Stores - M.H. Fishman Co. Inc. (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1953
- Description
-
Interior view of lunch counter at M.H. Fishman Co., Inc., taken during the Christmas shopping season.