You’ll find Peck’s Landing, an abandoned Vermont settlement, tucked away in Bennington County’s mountainous terrain. Established in 1753 through Governor Wentworth’s land grants, this once-thriving community peaked during the 1870s with extensive logging and charcoal operations. Historical records show the town’s decline accelerated after 1919 when the Rich Lumber Company closed, followed by the Deerfield River Railroad’s submergence in 1923. The area’s documented history intertwines with the mysterious Bennington Triangle’s unexplained phenomena.
Key Takeaways
- Pecks was a 19th-century Vermont settlement that thrived on charcoal production and logging before becoming abandoned in the early 1900s.
- The town’s economy collapsed after timber resources proved insufficient, leading to the Rich Lumber Company’s closure by 1919.
- Archaeological remains include foundations of homes, post offices, and charcoal kilns that validate the town’s historical existence.
- The Deerfield River Railroad, crucial to the town’s logging operations, disappeared by 1923 when Harriman Reservoir submerged the infrastructure.
- The area is associated with mysterious disappearances and supernatural phenomena, particularly within the “Bennington Triangle” during the mid-20th century.
The Early Settlement Years
As Vermont’s colonial development unfolded in the mid-18th century, the area that would become Pecks emerged within a complex web of land grants issued by New Hampshire’s Governor Benning Wentworth in 1753.
Like many early settlers in Vermont’s wilderness, you’d have found the first inhabitants clearing dense forest for subsistence farming, establishing essential community infrastructure including blockhouses and mills. The settlers left evidence of their agricultural pursuits through stone walls that once contained sheep pastures.
Early land speculators like Ephraim Cowen acquired dozens of land rights in the region, facilitating settlement from Connecticut towns.
You’ll notice these weren’t people fleeing civilization, but rather pioneers extending it. They organized local governments through town meetings, built taverns for gathering places, and created schools for their children.
They faced the same challenges as other Vermont settlements: harsh conditions, territorial disputes between New York and New Hampshire claims, and occasional conflicts with native Abenaki peoples who’d inhabited the land for millennia before European arrival.
Rise and Fall of Local Industries
You’ll find Pecks’ industrial peak centered around its bustling charcoal production and logging operations in the 1870s, when the newly constructed railroad allowed efficient transport of raw materials to regional markets.
The town’s mining ventures, while initially promising, failed to yield sustainable profits despite significant capital investment and the construction of processing facilities along the rail line.
Most settlers abandoned the area when economic conditions shifted, mirroring the pattern seen in many New England ghost towns.
Similar to other frontier communities like Green Banks Hollow that relied heavily on single industrial enterprises, the town’s economy became vulnerable to rapid decline when market conditions changed.
Charcoal Production Peak Years
The charcoal industry in Pecks and surrounding Vermont reached its zenith in 1909, with production soaring beyond 550,000 tons from both traditional kilns and recovery plants.
You’ll find the industry’s growth was intrinsically linked to iron smelting, as blast furnaces demanded vast quantities of charcoal fuel. A single furnace would consume about 270,000 bushels yearly, requiring 4,500 acres of woodland to maintain steady production.
Logging Railroad Operations
Launching its first rail service in 1914, the Deerfield River Railroad emerged as an essential logging transportation network across Vermont’s East Mountain plateau.
You’ll find that the railroad’s logging railroad infrastructure featured innovative engineering solutions, including a switchback system to navigate steep terrain while transporting timber from remote camps.
Despite being chartered as a common carrier with plans for long-term freight and passenger service, timber transportation challenges soon emerged.
Similar to the passenger service operations of the Montpelier & Wells River Railroad, the line initially aimed to serve multiple transportation needs.
The Rich Lumber Company‘s operations, centered around their Manchester sawmill, discovered they’d access to only 7,500 acres of timber instead of the expected 12,000. This shortfall led to the railroad’s premature closure by 1919, followed by the company’s liquidation in 1920.
The line was later acquired by a power company subsidiary before completely ceasing operations in 1921. By 1923, much of the railroad’s foundation disappeared when the Harriman Reservoir submerged the base.
Mining Ventures Gone Bust
Beyond logging’s decline, mining enterprises shaped Vermont’s economic landscape throughout the 19th century, with copper mining emerging as a dominant force that yielded nearly 150 million pounds of ore over a century-long period.
The Ely copper mine employed nearly 900 workers during its peak operations, drawing significant immigrant labor from Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Similar to when the Green Eagle mine failed after hitting an underground fault, mining techniques involved dangerous underground work requiring buddy systems, while coal-fired furnaces processed the extracted ore, releasing harmful sulfurous fumes that devastated local crops.
You’ll find that economic struggles plagued these ventures from the start. Low-grade ore quality, isolation from transportation, and difficulties securing capital led many operations to fail.
By the 1880s, plummeting copper prices triggered worker strikes in company towns, where immigrant miners depended heavily on company stores.
Despite a brief revival during World War II, most mines couldn’t sustain profitability, and towns like Pecks witnessed their mining dreams fade into abandonment.
Life in the Mountain Community
Life in Pecks, Vermont centered around the demanding realities of 19th-century mountain existence, where residents adapted to harsh environmental conditions through communal cooperation and resourcefulness.
Community traditions emerged from necessity, as you’d find families working together to survive seasonal challenges through:
- Shared labor during harvest times and barn raisings, strengthening social bonds while ensuring survival
- Local bartering systems that compensated for limited cash, trading timber and farm goods
- Religious and social gatherings in the modest schoolhouse, offering respite from isolation
- Collective food preservation efforts to endure long winters with limited outside access
Vermont Historical Society records suggest these mountain communities maintained order through strict social codes, while practicing mutual aid to overcome the rugged terrain’s limitations. The area’s relative isolation, much like Patch Hollow nearby, meant communities had to be largely self-sufficient.
You’d find daily life revolving around logging, charcoal production, and subsistence farming, with success depending on neighbor helping neighbor. The population reached its peak when the charcoal-making industry flourished, supporting 241 residents by 1880.
The Mysterious Bennington Triangle
You’ll find Pecks situated within the infamous Bennington Triangle, a 100-square-mile region of southwestern Vermont that gained notoriety after author Joseph A. Citro coined the term in 1992.
Between 1945 and 1950, you could track six unexplained disappearances in the area, including Middie Rivers and Paula Jean Welden, whose cases remain unsolved despite extensive searches.
While scientific minds point to natural causes like harsh weather and dangerous terrain, local folklore suggests more supernatural explanations, from alien abductions to phantom hitchhikers reported along the region’s isolated roads.
Strange Unexplained Disappearances
During the mid-20th century, a series of mysterious disappearances occurred within a 100-square-mile region known as the Bennington Triangle in southwestern Vermont.
These unexplained disappearances, which became part of local folklore legends, have baffled investigators and searchers for decades.
- Carl Herrick vanished while hunting in 1943, later found with an unexplained fatal chest injury.
- Paula Jean Welden disappeared on the Long Trail in 1946, leaving no trace despite extensive searches.
- James Tedford was last seen on a bus in 1949, mysteriously vanishing before reaching Bennington.
- Paul Jepson, an eight-year-old boy, and Frieda Langer both disappeared in 1950, adding to the pattern.
Most vanishings happened under normal circumstances, with searches yielding few clues.
Despite multiple law enforcement agencies and bloodhounds joining the efforts, many cases remain unsolved to this day.
Supernatural Forces at Play
While scientific evidence remains elusive, the Bennington Triangle has garnered significant attention from paranormal researchers due to its high concentration of unexplained phenomena.
You’ll find reports of paranormal encounters ranging from mysterious lights dancing across the sky to spectral sightings of phantom hitchhikers along desolate roads. Joseph A. Citro popularized these supernatural connections in 1992, drawing parallels to the infamous Bermuda Triangle.
Local witnesses have documented strange ambient sounds echoing through Glastenbury Mountain and sightings of unidentified creatures that defy conventional explanation.
Some investigators suggest the area contains interdimensional portals, while others point to alien involvement. Though folklore scholars remain skeptical, the region’s reputation for supernatural activity continues to intrigue those seeking answers to its mysterious forces.
Investigating Local Legends
Beyond the domain of supernatural speculation lies a documented history of real-world mysteries within the Bennington Triangle.
If you’re exploring local myths in this remote region, you’ll find a rich tapestry of unexplained phenomena dating back before the documented disappearances of the 1940s.
- Witness accounts describe strange lights hovering over Glastenbury Mountain, defying conventional explanation.
- A phantom hitchhiker, prominently linked to Paula Welden’s last known sighting along Route 67A in 1946.
- Reports of mysterious creatures lurking in the dense forests between Bennington and Woodford.
- Folklore from former logging communities in Glastenbury and Somerset, describing areas where “reality feels different.”
Author Joseph A. Citro formally named the region the “Bennington Triangle” in 1992, crystallizing decades of local legends into a documented phenomenon that continues to intrigue investigators.
Notable Disappearances and Legends
Throughout its history, Pecks has gained notoriety for unexplained disappearances and unsettling legends that continue to intrigue paranormal researchers and historians alike.
Strange vanishings and eerie folklore have made this mysterious settlement a magnet for those seeking answers to the unexplainable.
If you’re exploring this abandoned settlement, you’ll encounter tales of hikers who’ve emerged from the wilderness displaying unusual disorientation and claiming ghostly encounters with time distortions. Local records document mysterious echoes resembling moving boulders and deep, unexplainable growls.
You’ll find striking parallels between Pecks and other Vermont ghost towns, particularly Glastenbury, where similar disappearances have occurred.
The town’s gold rush origins in the 1850s and subsequent abandonment have spawned numerous legends, including warnings against wearing red clothing and stories of “cursed” areas.
These accounts, preserved through generations of regional storytelling, have transformed Pecks into a focal point for paranormal investigation.
Natural Landscape and Geography
If you’re exploring Pecks today, you’ll encounter dense mixed hardwood forests covering steep mountainous terrain typical of Vermont’s Green Mountain region, with challenging navigation due to thick understory vegetation and old logging paths.
The ghost town‘s historical layout was shaped by the area’s rocky ledges, shallow soil conditions, and poor farming quality that ultimately contributed to its abandonment.
Water features near Pecks, while historically essential for transportation and industry, have also posed risks through flooding and erosion, as evidenced by similar impacts in the neighboring ghost town of Ricker Basin during the floods of 1927 and 1934.
Mountain Terrain Features
While Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest holds many geological wonders, the White Rocks mountain area stands as one of its most distinctive features, rising approximately 2,600 feet above the valley floor.
The mountain ecology here showcases dramatic geological formations shaped by ancient glaciers and ongoing natural processes.
You’ll encounter these remarkable features throughout the area:
- Quartzite cliffs exposed by Ice Age glaciers, creating stark white faces visible for miles
- “Chaos Canyon,” where massive house-sized quartzite boulders from rockslides reshape the forest floor
- Mountain caves containing eternal ice beds that feed crystal-clear streams
- Steep ravines and circular meadows interspersed with rocky bluffs and dense thickets
These untamed landscapes create distinct microclimates, with temperature variations up to 20 degrees cooler in deep mountain ice bed areas.
Forest Density Analysis
Beyond the stark White Rocks formations lies a diverse forest ecosystem characterized by dense vegetation and complex species distribution.
You’ll find yourself enveloped in a Hemlock-Northern Hardwood forest that’s reclaimed the former logging town through decades of forest recovery. The area’s ecological succession showcases thick understory growth and a closed canopy, making off-trail navigation challenging.
As you explore Pecks’ landscape, you’ll encounter varying forest densities shaped by historic clearcutting and agricultural abandonment.
The White Pine-Northern Hardwood stands mark former farmlands, while upland areas support dense mesic red oak communities. The mountainous terrain influences tree density patterns, with riparian corridors hosting the thickest growth due to nutrient-rich soils.
Old logging roads, now obscured by vegetation, reveal the dynamic relationship between past human activity and current forest composition.
Water Resources Overview
The intricate water system of Pecks encompasses both surface waters and groundwater resources, shaped by the region’s complex geological history and past human activities.
You’ll find a network of streams feeding into the Little River, with water quality influenced by Vermont’s characteristic bedrock aquifers and till deposits. The area’s history of flooding, particularly the devastating events of 1927 and 1934, dramatically altered both the landscape and human settlement patterns.
- Ghost dams fragment local waterways, impacting natural flow patterns and aquatic ecosystems
- Sediment runoff from upstream erosion affects water clarity and habitat quality
- Groundwater sources typically meet EPA standards, with neutral pH levels around 7.4
- Crystalline and carbonate rock formations create isolated groundwater deposits between the Green Mountains’ interstream areas
Remnants and Ruins Today
Modern visitors to Pecks encounter a wilderness-reclaimed landscape dotted with deteriorating building foundations and cellar holes on Glastenbury Mountain in Bennington County, Vermont.
You’ll find scattered ruins amid dense forest regrowth, where nature steadily erases the historical significance of this abandoned settlement. Access requires experienced backcountry navigation skills, as seasonal weather and overgrown paths create significant exploration challenges.
Time and natural elements continue to degrade the remaining structural evidence, with rusted artifacts and stone walls occasionally visible through the undergrowth.
While you won’t find intact buildings, careful observation reveals foundational remnants typical of Vermont ghost towns.
Without official preservation efforts, these ruins face ongoing exposure to weather and vegetation, slowly disappearing into the rugged wilderness that now defines Pecks’ remote location.
Folklore and Supernatural Tales
While Pecks’ physical remnants fade into wilderness, its supernatural legacy thrives through a rich tapestry of folklore spanning centuries. The region’s local legends blend Abenaki tales and colonial fears, centered around Glastenbury Mountain’s mysterious nature and unexplained phenomena.
- Abenaki stories warn of a “man-eating rock” that swallows unsuspecting travelers whole.
- Colonial accounts describe encounters with monstrous creatures lurking in forest paths.
- Multiple paranormal encounters report strange lights, unexplained sounds, and bizarre odors.
- The infamous “Bennington Triangle” features tales of mysterious disappearances and Bigfoot-like creatures.
You’ll find these supernatural stories deeply embedded in Vermont’s cultural fabric, particularly within the Bennington Triangle where Pecks lies.
While investigations haven’t produced concrete evidence, the tales continue drawing curious explorers seeking answers to the area’s enduring mysteries.
Historical Documentation and Research
Beyond supernatural tales, historical records offer tangible evidence of Pecks’ existence through meticulous documentation and field research.
You’ll find detailed census data, property records, and industrial logs that paint a vivid picture of the town’s peak period. Archaeological discoveries reveal foundations of homes, post offices, and charcoal kilns scattered throughout the area, while Vermont State Police archives document intriguing disappearances linked to the region.
Through dedicated archival research, historians have pieced together Pecks’ narrative using local newspaper records and oral histories from former residents.
Modern historical preservation efforts continue to validate these findings, as researchers explore and document the physical remains. The rich documentation allows you to trace the town’s journey from a thriving logging community to its eventual abandonment.
Legacy in Vermont’s Ghost Town Heritage
Today, Pecks stands as a cornerstone of Vermont’s ghost town heritage, symbolizing the state’s complex relationship with abandoned settlements and economic evolution.
You’ll find it woven into Vermont’s cultural identity through local legends and historical narratives that showcase the region’s economic transformations from industrial hub to modern settlement patterns.
- Serves as a focal point for heritage tourism, attracting history enthusiasts and paranormal investigators
- Represents broader patterns of town abandonment throughout Vermont’s rural landscape
- Provides researchers with valuable insights into settlement patterns and socio-economic changes
- Functions as a living laboratory for studying the intersection of folklore, history, and archaeology
The site’s enduring legacy continues to shape Vermont’s collective memory, offering tangible evidence of how communities adapted to changing economic circumstances while preserving their unique historical character.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are There Any Remaining Residents Living Near Pecks Today?
You’ll find sparse settlements near Pecks’ historic boundaries, though local folklore suggests no permanent residents within the ghost town itself. Vermont records indicate scattered farms and homesteads in surrounding rural areas.
What Safety Precautions Should Visitors Take When Exploring Pecks?
Like autumn leaves drifting in wilderness, you’ll need proper exploration gear, emergency supplies, and wildlife awareness. Stay alert, bring navigation tools, and don’t explore alone in these remote forests.
Is Special Permission Required to Visit the Pecks Ghost Town Site?
You don’t need special permission to visit this ghost town of historical significance, but you’ll want to follow standard Vermont park regulations and respect any posted private property boundaries.
Can Vehicles Access the Abandoned Town Location During Winter Months?
Want to drive there in winter? You can’t access this location by standard vehicles during winter months. Deep snow, unmaintained roads, and dense forest make the terrain completely impassable without specialized snow equipment.
Have Any Artifacts From Pecks Been Preserved in Local Museums?
You won’t find any documented Pecks artifacts in major Vermont museums. Based on available records, local institutions haven’t preserved or cataloged specific items from this ghost town in their collections.
References
- https://usghostadventures.com/grand-rapids-ghost-tour/peck-building/
- https://happyvermont.com/2014/10/23/glastenbury-ghost-town/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScW-H7A8yL8
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_Vermont
- https://mysterioushillsdotcom.wordpress.com/2021/02/13/snapshots-of-a-ghost-town-fayville-vt-2004/
- https://www.uvm.edu/place/towns/putney/early.php
- http://www.sandgatevermont.com/settlers.php
- https://vermonthistory.org/journal/84/VHS8401IraVermont.pdf
- https://vermonthistory.org/journal/misc/ConquestOfVermont.pdf
- https://vermontcountry.com/2022/09/18/ghost-town/
