As William Shakespeare, “the Bard,†has done for the small English town of Stratford-upon-Avon, so can Robert Frost, “the Dean,†do for the small Vermont town of Shaftsbury.
Last week the Friends of Robert Frost, a Bennington, Vt.-based nonprofit group that celebrates the life and letters of the Pulitzer-winning poet, announced that it had secured a contract to purchase the seven-acre property and Stone House on which Frost lived in the 1920s, and where he wrote some of his most famous poems.
Carole Thompson, president of the Friends of Robert Frost, said the group has until next May to raise $500,000 to purchase and adapt the property into a museum.
“This whole project came out of an exhibit we did at the [Bennington] Museum in 1999 on Robert Frost’s life in Vermont,†said Thompson. “Once that exhibit was finished, our next ambition was to have a permanent exhibit, something to celebrate Frost’s life and accomplishments besides just visiting his grave.†Frost, who died in 1963 in Boston, is buried in the cemetery directly behind the Bennington Museum. Thousands of tourists visit the gravestone every year.
In putting together that 1999 exhibit, Thompson had been in contact with the family that owns the Stone House. She said they had loaned some items that were used in the exhibit. “At about that time, we also learned that they were looking to relocate,†she said. As a result, the Friends of Robert Frost was formed as a nonprofit, specifically with the purpose of buying the Stone House to convert into a museum.
The $500,000 price tag includes the cost of purchasing the house — situated on seven acres of farm land along Historic Route 7A — and converting it into a public facility. “In order to become a museum, we will have to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, and we’ll need to have public bathrooms, a public parking lot and a new entrance onto the property,†Thompson said. “The house itself is in very good condition,†she added.
When Frost bought the Stone House in Shaftsbury in 1920, he had already become a well-known poet, but it was during the years he spent in Vermont that he rose to precedence as the “Dean of American Poets.†Frost won an unprecedented four Pulitzer Prizes, three of which came in the 1920s while he was in Shaftsbury.
“The years in which he lived in Shaftsbury were his crowning achievement,†said Thompson.
The Stone House and property tells a story about the poet’s life, Thompson said. The circa-1769 stone structure contains the timbered frames and stonework that reflects Frost’s pastoral style of poetry, and the rugged New England life he made for himself. The property also has the original timbered barn, stone walls, birch trees and many of the original apple trees Frost planted nearly 80 years ago.
In a letter dated Oct. 23, 1920, Frost wrote to a friend: “I depose that I have moved a good part of the way to a stone cottage on a hill at South Shaftsbury in Southern Vermont on the New York side near the historic town of Bennington, where if I have any money left over after repairing the roof in the spring I mean to plant a new Garden of Eden with a thousand apple trees of some unforbidden variety.â€
One of Frost’s most famous poems, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening,†was written in the dining room of the Stone House, according to Thompson. “We would like to take that room and have an exhibit on just that poem,†she said, “to create the atmosphere which inspired those verses.â€
“Robert Frost is one of the best loved poets from any era,†said Thompson. “Every year, thousands of people from all over the world come to Bennington to visit his gravestone.â€
And more than 10,000 people visit the Friends of Robert Frost web site — www.frostfriends.org — each day, especially students. “We get, and respond to, e-mail from all over the world: Australia, New Zealand, Beijing, South America.â€
Thompson said she is confident that the $500,000 will be raised before the deadline, but she says it will take support from a variety of sources. “We’re trying to do two big grants, which are being written right now. At the current time, have been doing a letter-writing campaign to members and several lists of people that I’ve developed. And we’ve been getting some local support.â€
“This spot is perfect for a museum because it’s small enough to be manageable, it’s right on the road [Route 7A], and it’s only a short drive from the gravestone.â€
“Frost could be to this area what Shakespeare was to Stratford, what Wordsworth is to the Lake District. The fact that he was buried here, means something. ... For 50 years, we’ve taken him for granted. Now it’s time to recognize how special he was, as a member of this community.â€
To send a donation toward the museum, write to the Friends of Robert Frost, P.O. Box 4586, Bennington, VT 05201.
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Sanford, Maine, Edges SteepleCats in Season Opener
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The SteepleCats Sunday started their 2026 season the way they ended their 2025 campaign: with a narrow loss to the Sanford Mainers.
Sanford, which won a best-of-three playoff series against North Adams last August, scored four runs on 14 hits to earn a 4-2 win at Joe Wolfe Field.
The Mainers broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run rally in the third inning, and four Sanford pitchers combined to collect 11 strikeouts as the visitors improved to 2-1 this summer.
North Adams, which saw its planned road opener rained out on Saturday, got to open the season in front of its home fans.
And those fans saw a strong performance from the North Adams pitching staff, which, despite allowing 14 hits, including five doubles, gave up just three earned runs.
“I like the grit,” SteepleCats coach Mike Gladu said of his team’s Game 1 performance. “I thought the pitchers performed pretty well. We had a couple of situations where we definitely should have gotten some runs in and didn’t get that hit.
“And there were a couple of plays with a little rust. Certainly, the ball that was hit over [Evan] Meier’s in left field, he just mistracked that one. And the extra run they scored in the eighth, the kid wasn’t going to go [from third on a fly ball], we made a throw and nobody could stop it.
Cassidy Flynn scattered five hits in a complete-game effort in the circle as Lenox upset top-seeded Hoosac Valley, 3-2, in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament. click for more
Brayden Durant struck out seven and walked one in a complete-game effort on the mound Saturday to pitch the Drury baseball team to a 6-0 win over Keefe Tech in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament at Joe Wolfe Field. click for more
