Fair Haven History
Matthew Lyon Early Fair Haven SettlerIn 1774, Matthew Lyon moved to Wallingford, Vermont (then known as the New Hampshire Grants) and organized a company of militia. He served with Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold and the Green Mountain Boys on May 10th,1775 when they stormed Fort Ticonderoga and helped to take that important stronghold from the British in the first offensive battle of the Revolution. By July 1776, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the regiment known as the Green Mountain Boys. He moved to Arlington, Vermont, in 1777.
After Independence, he became wealthy through his discovery that paper could be manufactured from bass-wood pulp. Fair Haven was founded on October 27 of 1779. Matthew Lyon was the principal grantee of the town. He established the Fair Haven Gazette, a weekly newspaper, serving as publisher and editor and using the paper to express his political opinions in the early years of the Republic. He owned the town's first store, inn, built saw-mills, an iron-foundry, grist-mills and paper-mills at the falls in Fair Haven and a forge not far away. Fair Haven's large village green was originally given to the town by Matthew Lyon.
After the war he settled in Vermont and was elected to the state legislature, where he served for four successive years. He represented Fair Haven in the legislature for ten years, and in 1786 was assistant judge of Rutland county court. He managed to get himself jailed under the 1797 Sedition Lawswhich prohibited any American citizen from making defamatory statements about the President. He was soon freed, fined and in 1799 the Sedition Laws were declared unconstitutional by the Virginia and Kentucky legislatures.
In 1800, Matthew Lyon moved to Kentucky with his second wife (daughter of Govenor Thomas and Elizabeth Meigs Chittenden of Conneticut and Vermont) and younger children to Kentucky where he went on to found another town, a nail factory, a mill and shipyards on the Cumberland River. He and his second wife had a total of 8 children (Minerva, Chittenden, Aurelia, Matthew, Noah C., Beulah, Giles, and Eliza Ann)
Follow these links for more on Matthew Lyon
Who is Matthew Lyon?
Wikipedia on Matthew Lyon
Congressman Matthew Lyon: Vermont Fighter for Civil Liberties
pages 424-5 of 'A History of the Town of Fair Haven, Vermont', by Andrew N. Adams, published 1870 by Leonard and Phelps, Printers, Fair Haven.
Fair Haven Business District
| If the horses and buggys were replaced with cars, the downtown looks much the same today. The historic district surrounding the green has many interesting houses. |  Fair Haven Business District circa 1900 |
Other early enterprises included slate quarries, the Fair Haven Clock Co., and Lion Brand Shirt manufacturing facility, which employed more than 500 people.
Fair Haven also played host to a papermill, hammer and anvil factory, grist mill, and a Y.M.C.A. It started out small with only 411 residents, but has grown to its current size of 2,925 residents as of the 2000 Census.
Of the early enterprises, the slate industry remains a major employer, out of 21 slate companies in the late 1800's, manufacturing roofing tiles and other slate products, many remain in business today.
Among other notable buildings, Vermont slate from the Fair Haven area has been used in the construction of the White House, the Pentagon and the Lincoln Memorial.
Tragic fires in 1899, 1909 and 1918 destroyed large parts of the main business district, including four hotels which once served early travelers. As then, life in Fair Haven continues to be centered around the central business area and the village green, which is surrounded by homes that are outstanding examples of the periods architecture
The Fair Haven green is registered in the National Registry of Historical Places, as are many of the surrounding homes and churches.Located on WestPark Place are three homes built by descendants of Ira Allen, brother of Ethan Allen, and one of Fair Haven's original settlers
| Fair Haven Historical Society Municipal Building, Fair Haven, VT Mailing Address: P.O. Box 323, Fair Haven, VT 05743 802-265-3664 The Research Room / Museum contains books, scrapbooks, magazines, pictures, picture albums, newspapers, town records and genealogical files along with many artifacts. Contact Person: Philip Ranney, President, Betty Barnouw, Secretary, or Jeanette Ranney, Curator Hours and Admission: By appointment only Home|Calendar of Events|Member Directory|Fair Haven History|Contact Us|Message Board|Membership Application| Website design © 2003-2005 by DeWebSign . Unauthorized duplication strictly prohibited. |
       |