Abandoned Vermont: Sap Shack

Continuing on a journey across Vermont Route 107, friends and I came across this abandoned building and advertisement. It reads: “M Thompson and Sons / Sap Shack / Maple Syrup for Sale.” 

Route 107 Sap Shack

Still visible before spring leaves are in full bloom.

Rear of the sap shack building.

You can also call a “sap shack” a “sugar shack”  or “sugar house.” Sugar houses remain common on the Vermont landscape.  The gable roof, the sheet metal roof, the ventilator, and the (possible) woodshed on the rear of the building are indicative of a sugar house. To read about Vermont agricultural buildings and their significance, read the Multiple Property Document Form – Agricultural Resources of Vermont. Sugar houses are on page F-102 (or 151 according to adobe PDF).

Regarding this particular sugar house, all that turned up in a search was a 2008 photo of the building – abandoned then, too.

Advertisement