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
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- Burlington Street Department Buildings - Construction of Building
- Description
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April 20, 1934. Street Department Central Plant building project Docket no. 2215 (Works Projects Administration)
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- Burlington Street Department Buildings - Equipment
- Description
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1930s or 1940s photograph of a sewer maintenance truck and work crew of the Burlington Street Dept.
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- Sewer Projects
- Description
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February 19, 1932. Members of a crew dig with pick axes at a sewer project site near the Burlington Lake Champlain water front.
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- Winooski Bridge
- Description
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August 24, 1945. This view was taken from the Winooski end of the bridge looking toward Colchester Ave. hill. Note the completed hot plant mix wearing surface on the right half of the bridge (asphalt spreader and roller shown in the distance) while two way traffic is suing the left half of the...
Show moreAugust 24, 1945. This view was taken from the Winooski end of the bridge looking toward Colchester Ave. hill. Note the completed hot plant mix wearing surface on the right half of the bridge (asphalt spreader and roller shown in the distance) while two way traffic is suing the left half of the bridge. The crew in the left foreground is removing the old cold-patch aprons which were temporarily placed near the newly installed steel expansion lanes during the previous season. This wearing surface was placed 2 inches in thickness and tapered off on to the approaches at each end. The cost of this work was borne by the City of Winooski and City of Burlington sharing in the proportion of the grand list of each City and the State Highway Department. The State Highway Department paid for 4/5 of the total cost while the other fifth was divided between the two cities.
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