The former Dr. B. J. Kendall Company factory sits boarded up and neglected on Vermont Route 105 in Enosburg Falls, Vermont. Enosburg Falls was put on the map when Dr. B. J. Kendall began manufacturing Kendall’s Spavin Cure in 1879. Spavin is a disease that occurs in livestock – a type of osteoarthritis that causes lameness. Dr. Kendall’s business and the coming of the railroad brought this small, northern Vermont to a booming town at the turn of the 20th century. The company operated until around the mid 20th century. Enosburg is still known for its dairy farms, and is designated the dairy capital of the world; each June Enosburg hosts the Dairy Days festival.
Front facade of the factory.
Central tower, showing original windows and details. The sign barely reads “Kendalls Spavin Cure,” but it’s still there.
Front entrance as it looks today. Look in the front door and you can see original details and piles of stuff.
Beneath the vinyl: beautiful clapboard!
Rear of the building: it appears that someone has done some maintenance work recently. The roof looks fairly new and the cornice and brackets – up close – appear to be replaced.
Pigeons making themselves at home. Original windows in those dormers.
Side entrance.
In 2004, the Spavin Cure Historical Group started broadcasting a radio station from the building (note the large antenna on the central tower). Vandals stole radio equipment in 2011, which put the radio station off air for a couple of years, but today the station remains on the air. The building falls into the category of not-really-abandoned, but neglected and in need of help, which is why it appears in this series.
Advertisement for Kendall’s Spavin Cure, courtesy of the Boston Public Library. Click for source.
I passed this building a few months ago, hastily snapped a (terribly framed) photo and continued on my way, all the while wishing I had time to stop and poke around. Thanks for featuring this one! (:
The dairy capital of the world ???! C’mon now, it’s probably not even the dairy capital of Vermont. Think about that claim for a second…….where do people get this stuff (?), and don’t they ever do any research before boasting about it to the world.
Kaitlin,
If you ever come join us for our annual Dairy Days shindig (the first Saturday in June every year, and also my wedding anniversary to Trevor), you can watch the parade from Trevor’s Uncle’s house, which is right next door! Locally, they just call the building the Spavin Cure. Word is, some out of towners from Massachusetts bought it and put the radio tower on there to claim some sort of tax benefit. It’s a shame…
To Mark, above, Enosburg still has quite a few dairy farms in operation, and is probably one of the larger dairy producers in VT, still. Historically, it produced vast quantities of milk, cheese and butter that were capable of being sent by rail to both Boston and Montreal, so it really was quite the dairy producer in the late 1800s-early 1900s. The rail trail that runs from St. Albans through Enosburg and Richford into Canada is evidence of that past.
Jen
when was the bridge of lights built