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 - Unidentified Groups
- Description
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1945 photo of a large group of men and women assembled within what appears to be a small stage. The group dynamic suggests that they are co-workers in a business, possibly with spouses present. Identity of group, venue, and occasion are unknown.
- Title
- Portraits - Unidentified Groups
- Description
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1935 / 1936 winter photo of a group of well-dressed, influential men standing in front of an airplane, presumably at Burlington Airport. On the left is a delivery truck owned by Railway Express Agency, which had headquarters at 111 St. Paul St., Burlington. The City Directory lists Herbert E....
Show more1935 / 1936 winter photo of a group of well-dressed, influential men standing in front of an airplane, presumably at Burlington Airport. On the left is a delivery truck owned by Railway Express Agency, which had headquarters at 111 St. Paul St., Burlington. The City Directory lists Herbert E. Fitch as agent. Also on the left: a boy with his dog that sits on top of crate with sign "Live Dog". Occasion and purpose of photo unknown. (See also mcalB15F12i13.)
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- Title
- Portraits - Unidentified Groups
- Description
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1944 photo of four men, very likely in a business setting, with unpainted walls in the background. Names, location, occasion are unknown.
- Title
- Portraits - Unidentified Groups
- Description
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1948 photo of the same group in maclB15F23i03 but a different view showing a group of 9 men and women. Posters on the wall may support the following scenario: General Home Equipment may be an in-home sales enterprise similar to Amway, and the people at the head of the table (the "pilots" referred...
Show more1948 photo of the same group in maclB15F23i03 but a different view showing a group of 9 men and women. Posters on the wall may support the following scenario: General Home Equipment may be an in-home sales enterprise similar to Amway, and the people at the head of the table (the "pilots" referred to int the poster) may be the top salespeople in their region. (The airplane imagery may allude to the Berlin Airlift, which started in June, 1948.) The poster on the right would certainly be appropriate for a sales campaign involving numerous independent salespeople.
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- Title
- Portraits - Unidentified Groups
- Description
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1945 photo of a group of men and women, very likely co-workers. Business and location are unknown but a sign off to the left side in the back may provide some clues.
- Title
- Portraits - Unidentified Groups
- Description
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1947 photo of a meeting of men and women affiliated with the Nash bed company. (See also mcalB15F22i07.) Identity of persons, venue, occasion unknown.
- Title
- Portraits, groups, unidentified
- Description
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1955 photo Mr. Ben B. Lane of The Lane Press in Burlington stands with his daughter, Vickie Lane, looking at a framed wall hanging entitled "This is a printing office". A signature seems to appear in the lower right corner of the wall hanging. Photo appears in the 1955 BHS yearbook Oread, p. 145.
- Title
- Portraits, groups, unidentified
- Description
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Six men stop their work and stand next to two butchered cows (steers?) in a meat processing plant. Undated.
- Title
- Portraits, groups, unidentified
- Description
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Susan Ramsey and her father, Mr. Lee S. Ramsey (of Vermont Hardware Co.) of Burlington. Photo appears in Burlington High School yearbook 1955, Oread, p. 139.
- Title
- Preston, William (in Burlington Store)
- Description
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Photo of William Preston of Preston's jewelers once located on upper Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. He sits with a female high school student in the store. This photo may have been taken for a local high school year book.
- Title
- Scrap Metal Collection
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
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1945 - Scrap Metal Collection - A man with a power shovel has a scoopful of scrap metal near a partially filled truck. Initials on the truck's door read, "C.R. Co." Another man stands in the truck bed with shovel, two others look on.
- Title
- Scrap Metal Collection
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
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1945 - Scrap Metal Collection. Seen is a huge dumpster full of metal cans and other scrap. Two men have shovels and stand in a chute. Two other men stand nearby. Chute leads down into a building.
- Title
- Scrap Metal Collection
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
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1945 - Scrap Metal Collection. Seen is a huge dumpster full of metal cans and other scrap. Two men have shovels and stand in a chute. Two other men stand nearby. Chute leads down into a building.
- Title
- Sewer Projects
- Description
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May 8, 1939. Sewer construction project underway with the use of a crane in front of the Pine Glen Tavern restaurant at 1310 North Avenue, Burlington (near where Gosse Court is currently). Walter E. Gosse, proprietor.
- 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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March 4, 1937. View of sewer pipes at a sewer tile construction plant. 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
-
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
- Sewer Tile Construction Plant
- Description
-
March 5, 1937. This view shows the inside of the pouring plant in the construction of sewer tile pipes. Note the overhead track used for pulling the steel cores. Could this be the Justis Vault Co. on Riverside Ave, Burlington?