Name/Title
MatchbookEntry/Object ID
2025.3.18Description
Slim gray matchbook with the image of a dog team and sled on the cover. The backside says, Middlebury, Vt. and the end has a telephone number, DU 8-7651.Context
This is a matchbook from a restaurant called the Dog Team which was located north of the town of Middlebury.
From Wikipedia:
"The Dog Team Tavern was a restaurant located on Dog Team Road, off U.S. Route 7, roughly 4 mi (6.4 km) north of the town of Middlebury, Vermont in Addison County. It was located geographically in the Champlain Valley of the Green Mountains, the Vermont part of the Appalachian Mountain range. The restaurant burned down in early September 2006, destroying artifacts[2] of the Grenfell Mission and Labrador handicrafts.
The rustic restaurant was a local landmark known for its sizable portions (most notably the prime rib) and the "relish wheel," which typically contained corn relish, apple butter, horseradish cottage cheese, beets, and sauerkraut. Also, the restaurant's famous sticky buns[3] were always served at the beginning of each meal. The restaurant was very popular among students from the nearby Middlebury College, who often flocked there with family during the college's fall family weekends. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, and delisted in 2016.
History
The Dog Team Tavern was originally constructed in the 1920s by Sir Wilfred and Lady Anne Grenfell.[4] The building was originally a mission house that was started by Grenfell and his wife in 1931. The Dog Team Tavern was opened in 1936 as a tea house and outlet for handicrafts from Newfoundland and Labrador. Earlier in 1931, Sir Wilfred and Lady Anne retired to Charlotte, Vermont, where they built Kinloch House. In 1934, the couple opened a Dog Team Tea House in Ferrisburg, Vermont, and about that time they opened houses in Oxford and Guilford, Connecticut. When Eben and Catherine Joy purchased the Dog Team Tavern from the International Grenfell Association (of New York City) in 1946 they opened it as a restaurant, adding a bar/tavern later when they were able to obtain a license in "dry" New Haven.[5]
Eben Joy, and his second wife, Eileen, sold the Dog Team Tavern to Andrew Golbert of Burlington, Vermont (now of Essex Junction), in 1978.[6] Andrew Golbert sold the DTT to Chris Hesslink and Robert Mahoney in 1987, with Mahoney leaving the business circa 1996/97, when Hesslink reorganized and continued the business until it burned on September 1, 2006.[5] Hesslink's body was recovered from the fire."Acquisition
Accession
2025.3Acquisition Method
Found in CollectionRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Dog Team TavernRelated Places
Place
Town
New Haven, MiddleburyCounty
Addison CountyState/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North America* Untyped Place
Middlebury College