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Images of Richmond in the Early 20th Century
Joseph Bishop's Glass Plate Negatives Dedicated to the memory of Thomas Levesque and Paul Brodeur, great-nephews of Joseph (Levesque) Bishop. This exhibit of Bishop's work would not be possible without Tom's stewardship of the glass plate negatives and Paul's help in identifying the people photographed. In June 2016, the Richmond Historical Society acquired more than 400 photographic glass plate negatives from the estate sale of the late Thomas Levesque, Richmond's former Fire Chief. The photos were taken in the 1910s and 1920s by Levesque's great-uncle Joseph Levesque or Bishop. Ranging from studio portraits to community events, the images offer intriguing glimpses of everyday life in early 20th century Richmond. Joseph Emilian Levesque was born in St. Melanie, Quebec in 1885, a son of Moses and Virginie Auger Levesque. In 1907 he immigrated to Richmond, Vermont with his mother and other family members, where they became known by the English version of their surname – Bishop.
Left: Joseph Levesque/Bishop with his dog. Photo courtesy the Daigle Family. Special Occasions
Parade through downtown Richmond in 1920.
A Willys Overland Model 79 Touring Car decked out for a parade on Bridge Street. The car may have belonged to Malcolm Dimick, who is known to have bought one from Frank Gillett in Jonesville. Richmond Theatre (on right - built in 1920) and Currier's Livery Stable are visible in the background.
Patriotic women's rally on the corner of Bridge and Depot Streets.
Group photo of Woodmen of America in front of their Depot Street building (now Gifford Funeral Home). The sign just visible in the upper left corner of the photo is for a cigar store that also held a pool table.
Everyday Life
Levesque/Bishop family home and store on the corner of Jericho Road and Main Street.
Lumber yard at the end of Railroad Street.
Paint store at corner Pleasant and Bridge Streets. The car parked out front has a 1920 Maine license plate.
Round Church Green. This is one of the few images in the collection that identifies Joseph Bishop as the photographer.
A family dressed for an outing poses for the camera on Round Church Road.
Winooski Turnpike (U.S. Route 2) near Jonesville looking west toward the Monitor Barns.
Scoreboard on Main Street beside St. Mary's Church shows the final score of game six of the 1923 World Series in which the New York Yankees defeated the New York Giants 6-4 to win the series. Presumably someone nearby had listened to the game on the radio so that the scoreboard could be updated while the game was in progress.
Portraits
Myrt Currier. She and her husband owned the livery stable in the background, located on Bridge Street next to what is now Toscano Cafe Bistro.
Unknown pianist.
1921 Richmond High School basketball team. The sport was discontinued after the 1922 season because the school had no indoor court. Basketball returned to Richmond High after the school acquired the old Universlist Church building (now the town library) and converted the sanctuary into a gym.
Richmond High School baseball team (date unknown).
Richmond's 1927 town baseball team.
Richmond High School Band (date unknown).
World War I soldier.
Another World War I soldier.
Dina Hebert, 1914.
Unknown boy in toy car.
Unknown woman and girl with toy car.
Unknown young man on toy car.
Thank you for viewing this display. Feel free to contact the Richmond Historical Society at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you recognize any of the people or events pictured here.
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Long-time Richmond residents remember him as "Pete" Bishop, owner/operator of a restaurant called "Pete's Lunch Counter" in the back of the family store in downtown Richmond. As a young man, however, he worked for a while as a professional photographer, capturing images of local people, places and events on 5 x 7-inch glass plates. The Richmond Historical Society is in the process of digitizing and identifying these images. Feel free to contact us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
if you recognize any of the people or events in the following selections.
