Deer View Shelter was built by the Bennington Section in 1958 to replace Thendara Shelter, which had succumbed to heavy snow, suspected vandalism, and old age during the winter of 1957–58.
The work began in June 1958 after lumber was delivered directly to the site, eliminating the laborious task of hand-carrying materials through the woods.
Completed in five and a half work days, the shelter was a 12-by-8-foot lean-to, heavily constructed to sleep eight people without crowding.
It was renamed Deer View to avoid confusion with the New York Section’s Thendara shelter and because the local name had long been applied to the location, evidenced by fresh deer tracks found on the cleared site when construction began.
The shelter was listed in the 1960 Long Trail Guide Book as a frame structure with bunks for six.
By 1966, Deer View Shelter had been destroyed by fire, prompting the Green Mountain Club to construct Congdon Camp in Dunville Hollow in 1967 as a replacement facility.
The shelter’s brief existence—less than a decade—marked a transitional moment in the trail system’s history, as the Bennington Section’s modest structure gave way to a more permanent successor.
Sources
- T. N. Goddard.
- Long Trail News 1958 (1958). Green Mountain Club. 5.
- "Long Trail News." , no. August (1958).
- Long Trail News 1963 (1963). Green Mountain Club. 6.
- Long Trail News 1966 (1966). Green Mountain Club. 7.
- Long Trail Guide Book. 18th Edition ed. Green Mountain Club, 1966.
- GM 19th Edition 1968. 1968.
- Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 19 ed. Green Mountain Club. Pp. 18.
- Green Mountain Club. Guide Book of the Long Trail. 16 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1960. Pp. 19.
