Northeast Corner of Putnam Square

The buildings around Putnam Square have changed several times since Calvin Dart took this photograph around 1870. Dart’s studio/gallery was located on the top floor of the building on the right. Note the large skylight, which would have provided him with the ample natural light necessary for early photography. The framed photographs next to his door on Main Street advertised his services. The building also housed S. M. Sibley’s grocery store in the basement and George Selby’s boot and shoe store on the first floor.

The offices of the local newspaper are in the building on the left. The State Banner was founded as a weekly newspaper in 1841 by a group of prominent citizens including Congressman Hiland Hall. The name changed several times over the course of the paper’s history, and it is now published as the Bennington Banner.