Root House/Town Office at 205 South Street

Henry and Catherine Root built this house around the time of their marriage in 1846. Root started a tinsmith business in Bennington prior to his involvement in Vermont finance and politics. When he died in 1899 the house was inherited by his son William A. Root, who owned one of the first garages in Bennington and sold Ramblers. This image shows William’s son (also named Henry) taking the family for a drive in their brand new 1910 Rambler in front of the Root house.

The Root house is built in the Greek Revival style with Doric columns resembling a Greek temple. This property was sold by the Root family to the Town of Bennington in 1920 and the home was converted to the Town Office in 1925, which it remains to this day.

Root family in their 1910 Rambler at 205 South Street, 1910

Glass plate negative, Frederick D. Burt (1881-1966) 

Bennington Museum Collection, Gift of the Bennington Banner