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
- Burlington Streets: Main Street (4X5's)
- Description
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March 18, 1940 late winter view of Main Street in front of the Strong Theatre building. The Snow King Rotary Snow Plow is mounted on the city street dept Walter's Snow Fighter Truck as it performs snow removal. Note the movie marque at the Strong, "The Marines Fly High" starring Richard Dix and...
Show moreMarch 18, 1940 late winter view of Main Street in front of the Strong Theatre building. The Snow King Rotary Snow Plow is mounted on the city street dept Walter's Snow Fighter Truck as it performs snow removal. Note the movie marque at the Strong, "The Marines Fly High" starring Richard Dix and Chester Morris.
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- Title
- Burlington Streets: Main Street (4X5's)
- Description
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Undated (may be late 1920s or early 1930s) overhead view of the continuation of asphalt application over the old brick pavement on Main Street between South Winooski Ave. and Church Street. Note the old trolley car tracks which are being covered up. Cable wires are still strung and barely visible...
Show moreUndated (may be late 1920s or early 1930s) overhead view of the continuation of asphalt application over the old brick pavement on Main Street between South Winooski Ave. and Church Street. Note the old trolley car tracks which are being covered up. Cable wires are still strung and barely visible overhead. On the right is the Post Office. Further up the street is the Strong Theatre building.
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- Title
- Burlington Streets: Main Street (Lower)
- Description
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Sept. 1, 1929. View of Main Street looking east up the hill from intersection of Church Street. Note the old trolley car tracks and overhead wires, also uneven and worn condition of the old brick pavement. This picture was taken just before constructing the new asphalt pavement by the city street...
Show moreSept. 1, 1929. View of Main Street looking east up the hill from intersection of Church Street. Note the old trolley car tracks and overhead wires, also uneven and worn condition of the old brick pavement. This picture was taken just before constructing the new asphalt pavement by the city street dept., using the old brick pavement as a base. Parked cars and businesses line both sides of the street. On the right is the Strong Theatre with a sign along one side of the building advertising "Vermont home of Chilton Paint Co." In the distant center of photo a car cruises through the intersection of Main and South Winooski Ave.
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- Title
- Burlington Streets: Winooski Ave.
- Description
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December 7, 1938 View of South Winooski Ave. looking north as Burlington Street Dept. crew do road work. Rollers are smoothing down the surface as men stand by with shovels. To the right is a sign reading Ben's Dinette located between Main and King Street. To the left up the street is the back of...
Show moreDecember 7, 1938 View of South Winooski Ave. looking north as Burlington Street Dept. crew do road work. Rollers are smoothing down the surface as men stand by with shovels. To the right is a sign reading Ben's Dinette located between Main and King Street. To the left up the street is the back of the Strong Theater.
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- Title
- Burlington Streets: Winooski Ave.
- Description
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August 15, 1939. So. Winooski Ave. looking south from intersection of Main Street after Plant-Mix asphalt pavement with an average of one and one-half inches of hot asphalt binder course or leveling course and two inch wearing surface of American Bitumuls laykold mixture had been placed and the...
Show moreAugust 15, 1939. So. Winooski Ave. looking south from intersection of Main Street after Plant-Mix asphalt pavement with an average of one and one-half inches of hot asphalt binder course or leveling course and two inch wearing surface of American Bitumuls laykold mixture had been placed and the street opened to traffic. Sign to the left near a two story billboard structure states P.W.A. Federal Works Agency Public Works Administration Street Improvements. Billboards advertise Ritz Crackers and Chesterfield Cigarettes. Strong building on the corner to the right.
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- Title
- Burlington Streets: Winooski Ave.
- Description
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Undated but may be 1939 view of So. Winooski Ave. looking south at the intersection of Main Street. To the left men work on street construction project near the corner Herbert Auto Service at 204-206 So. Winooski selling Gulf. To the right is the Strong Theater building and Strong Hardware at 205...
Show moreUndated but may be 1939 view of So. Winooski Ave. looking south at the intersection of Main Street. To the left men work on street construction project near the corner Herbert Auto Service at 204-206 So. Winooski selling Gulf. To the right is the Strong Theater building and Strong Hardware at 205-207 So. Winooski. A two story tall billboard structure is seen to the west side of the auto service store.
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- Title
- Burlington Streets: Winooski Ave.
- Description
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Undated photo of two men with snowplow on skids attached to a Holt tractor so the plow could be pulled. Location is So. Winooski Ave. at the intersection of Main Street. Directly behind is the the Strong building with Strong Hardware Co. at 205-207 Main and a sign also advertising Burlington...
Show moreUndated photo of two men with snowplow on skids attached to a Holt tractor so the plow could be pulled. Location is So. Winooski Ave. at the intersection of Main Street. Directly behind is the the Strong building with Strong Hardware Co. at 205-207 Main and a sign also advertising Burlington Motor Sales occupying the first floor.
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- Title
- Burlington Streets: Winooski Ave.
- Description
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December 7, 1938 View of South Winooski Ave. looking to Main Street as Burlington Street Dept. crew do road work. Rollers are smoothing down the surface as men stand by with shovels. To the right is a sign reading Ben's Dinette located between Main and King Street at 164 So Winooski. To the left...
Show moreDecember 7, 1938 View of South Winooski Ave. looking to Main Street as Burlington Street Dept. crew do road work. Rollers are smoothing down the surface as men stand by with shovels. To the right is a sign reading Ben's Dinette located between Main and King Street at 164 So Winooski. To the left up the street is the back of the Strong Theater. Also to the left is the small white building of William R. Daley's lunch cart at No. 175.
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- Title
- Portraits, groups, unidentified
- Description
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A group of men stand in front of what was to become UVM's Royall Tyler Theater on campus in Burlington. It wasn't a theater at the time of this photo. It was a gymnasium. Undated but may be 1920s, 1930s.
- Title
- Strong Theatre (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1946-1947
- Description
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1946 photo of the Strong Building, home of Strong Hardware Co. and the Strong Theatre, as well as a drugstore and ice cream shop. Date on the building is 1902. The marquee reads: Abbott and Costello: "The Naughty Nineties," with Alan Curtis. (The movie came out in 1945.) The building was...
Show more1946 photo of the Strong Building, home of Strong Hardware Co. and the Strong Theatre, as well as a drugstore and ice cream shop. Date on the building is 1902. The marquee reads: Abbott and Costello: "The Naughty Nineties," with Alan Curtis. (The movie came out in 1945.) The building was destroyed by arson in 1970, and rubble at the site was used to help build the Burlington bike path.
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- Title
- Strong Theatre (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1946-1947
- Description
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1946 photo of the Strong Building, home of Strong Hardware Co. and the Strong Theatre, as well as Brown's Pharmacy and ice cream shop. Date on the building is 1902. The marquee reads: Abbott and Costello: "The Naughty Nineties," with Alan Curtis. (The movie came out in 1945.) The building was...
Show more1946 photo of the Strong Building, home of Strong Hardware Co. and the Strong Theatre, as well as Brown's Pharmacy and ice cream shop. Date on the building is 1902. The marquee reads: Abbott and Costello: "The Naughty Nineties," with Alan Curtis. (The movie came out in 1945.) The building was destroyed by arson in 1970, and rubble at the site was used to help build the Burlington bike path.
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- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
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1944 or 1945 photo of a large group of people on stage; women in long gowns, men in black bow ties and white jackets, Boy Scouts kneeling in front with a sailor.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
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A dark 1944 photo of 18 girls all dressed alike in long dresses on stage. They pose with stretched pieces of cloth that when viewed seem to form 6 pointed "snowflakes." Winter pageant or performance tableau? Photo #2? See also mcalB18F34i05
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
-
1944 photo of 18 girls all dressed alike in long dresses are on stage. They pose with stretched pieces of cloth that when viewed seem to form 6 pointed "snowflakes." Winter pageant or performance tableau? Photo #3. See also mcalB18F34i05
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
1944 or 1945 photo of a large group of people on stage; women in long gowns, men in black bow ties and white jackets, Boy Scouts kneeling in front with a sailor.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Description
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Photo of a production cast sitting on stage in costume assembled in front of an elaborate stage setting.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Description
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1945 / 1946. Three women actors of a dramatic production pose in period dress in a living room setting with a fireplace. Two women wear hanging ribbon like badges. One woman sits in a rocking chair.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Description
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View from the theater balcony of a stage production with an elabotate setting. Cast members are assembled on the lush furniture in the living room set.
- Title
- Trinity College - Sports & Activities
- Description
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1957 Two sailor-suited performers on the Trinity College stage. Mann Hall stage. Photo #17?
- Title
- Trinity College - Sports & Activities
- Description
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1957 Trinity College students singing a duet onstage, dressed in sailor outfits. Mann Hall stage. Photo #16?