A Country Doctor and a Hometown Hero - 120 State Street

This building is simply called the State Office Building. More informally, it’s called the DMV – the Department of Motor Vehicles.

OUR DMV IS ART DECO BABY!

The brick house at 128 State Street that currently houses Vermont's Secretary of State originally sat on this piece of land. Once it was moved, along with a few other houses, this Art Deco behemoth of concrete and steel started going up and was completed in 1949. It’s faced on all sides with Vermont marble. If you look up near the roofline, you can see an engraved frieze surrounding the building that includes the name of each of the state’s 14 counties. The figure carved in relief on the steel front door is Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility. She is holding the Vermont state seal in one hand, and beneath her is the iconic image of a man attaching a sap bucket to his maple tree. I know the building looks sort of like a giant mausoleum, but never mind that! If you walk through the big steel door, inside you’ll see a plaque on the wall to the right marking it as the spot – THE VERY SPOT!! – where George Dewey, Admiral of the Navy and Victor of Manila Bay, was born. To listen to the story of the Deweys, and of one of the most remarkable events ever held in Montpelier, have a seat on the wall and click the audio button above. The audio is about 6 minutes in length.