In 1926 Middlebury College’s Forestry Department erected a new open‑faced shelter along the old wagon road that led out to Lincoln Valley past the Atkins brothers’ farms. This structure replaced an earlier Battell building and was deliberately modest in form: constructed of peeled logs, it was fitted with a wood stove, basic cooking utensils, and bunks for ten to twelve people. A distinctive feature was a large fireplace set against a big rock in front of the shelter, which gave the site a strong outdoor‑camp character and a natural focal point for evening gatherings.
Because of its proximity to the Bread Loaf Inn and Henry Davis’s farm, the lodge quickly became popular with hikers entering the Long Trail from Middlebury Pass. Its location made it an especially convenient first‑night lodging for parties beginning their trek from the Bread Loaf area, and the shelter’s simple comforts—bunks, stove heat, and a sheltered cooking area—were much appreciated by early 20th‑century trail users.
The lodge was not without its practical shortcomings. The nearest reliable water source lay roughly a quarter mile away, which hikers and caretakers repeatedly noted as inconvenient, especially for overnight parties carrying limited supplies. Despite that drawback, the shelter’s design and setting made it a well‑used and well‑liked stop on the local trail network.
In 1937 the lodge was destroyed by fire; contemporary accounts record the loss but do not identify a definitive cause. The blaze ended a brief but active chapter in the lodge’s life—just over a decade after its construction—and left the mountain without that particular shelter until later replacements and iterations of Battell shelters were built in subsequent decades.
Sources
- Long Trail Guide Book. 7th Edition ed. Green Mountain Club, 1928.
- Long Trail Guide Book. 9th Edition ed. Green Mountain Club, 1932.
- "Long Trail News." 1937.
