Trip 8 - Burke And Newark

Before Sunday brunch, we decided to meander a bit around some towns near the Fortress of Solitude. 

The first official 251 stop was in Burke (history, demographics): Writing for Hemenway's Gazetteer, the Reverend Thomas Goodwillie gave incorrect explanations for the origins of several town names, Burke among them. The Reverend said Dr. Jonathan Arnold named the town for his son, Burke Arnold. Nothing could have been further from the truth: Dr. Arnold did receive charters for several towns in the area, but not for Burke, nor did he have a son by that name...

While it cannot be proved, it is thought that the town really was named for Edmund Burke (1729-97) the great British statesman and orator, who was one of the foremost proponents of liberal treatment for the American colonies...At the time the town was chartered, Edmund Burke had just helped to force Lord North's resignation as prime minister because of his colonial policies and conduct of the war.

Um...here we are down the road in Burke.

Are you missing a hubcap?  Cuz there's one in Lyndon on Burrington Bridge Road.

There were adverts like this on several posts.

It's always fun looking through gaps down to the river below.

There were several hefty bolts around--dunno if they are part of the original works or the repairs done a couple years ago.

Randall Bridge off Route 114 in Lyndon.  Also known as the Burrington Road Bridge--serves only pedestrians, cycles, and snowmobiles.

• Size: 68 feet
  
• Year Built: 1865
  
• Builder: Unknown
  
• Crosses: East Branch Passumpsic River
  
• Type: Queenpost

We didn't officially visit Lyndon today, though we ranged quite far on the town's back roads.  So we're just counting this as part of the Burke trip.

In East Burke on 114, a few miles north of Randall Bridge, just before we got to the River Garden Cafe for brunch.

We thought about grabbing a shot in West Burke for the trifecta: wanted to do the volunteer fire dept, but things were rather busy there, so we bagged it.

Next up was a roundabout tour of Newark (history, demographics): Newark is one of the few towns in Vermont about whose name nothing at all is known. It has generally been assumed that it was named for one of England's Newarks, the best known of which is in Nottinghamshire, where the name means "a new work" (i.e., a new fort or new building).

Vermont's Newark is antedated by Newark, New Jersey, where it is thought the name is derived directly from the Biblical "New Ark," meaning a new project or new undertaking. However, no evidence has been found to link the grantees of Newark, Vermont, with any other Newark, so perhaps it can be assumed that they were using the name the same way the New Jersey settlers did, referring to their town as the place of a new undertaking.

Where's Cairo?

Cairo's philosophy dictates that you cannot know a place unless you swim in a place.  We now know Jobs Pond (in Westmore, just on the other side of the county line).

We also visited Center Pond, but didn't swim there.  Here's an aerial photo of the area (courtesy of Google Maps) for reference--the Fortress is on the southern end of Bald Hill Pond:

According to the ANR: Bald Hill = 108 acres; Center = 79 acres; Jobs = 39 acres.  Lake Willoughby, the large body of water on the far left, is 1653 acres.

And now that the promised t-storms have apparently run their course, it is time to swim in our own pond again.  Until next time...

ntodd

PS--I am still using the Wiki maps Jared put together, but I'm storing them locally now.  I'll be fixing the maps in the other entries soonish.

Comments

[Megan]

I got all nostalgic looking at your pictures, this is my neck of the woods. I'm from Lyndonville. Did you go there?

Hope you had a nice time,
Megan

[PwapVt]

Welcome to the Kingdom
Long Pond is also very nice.

[nike air max]

However she might also want the ability wear it long if it its there is particular outfit and a longer hair do will work perfectly with it. In this case hair extensions are perfect. An uneasy feeling can arise when one realizes that hair extensions might result in damage to your own hair.mbt shoes clearance However if you choose a professional to do your hair extensions then you can put your fears aside.