Former mill towns that have preserved and reinvented themselves

Reporting from Brattleboro, Vt.

To most people, classic New England means a sleepy village with a white steepled church surrounded by farm fields. But just as typical of the region are stony old mill towns that rose in the 19th century when entrepreneurs opened clattering factories, powered by fast-moving streams, and immigrants arrived to work in them.

The textile mills, trolleys and boarding houses of Lowell, Mass., on the Merrimack River about 30 miles northwest of Boston, are now part of a national historic park that tells the story of the Industrial Revolution in New England, especially its human side, while Harrisville, N.H., another erstwhile cloth-making center, slumbers, its Cheshire Mill silent but astonishingly intact.

Still others have come back to vibrant life, thanks to local artists, farmers and merchants who recolonize historic buildings on Main Street, leaving Walmarts and McDonalds outside the center. Brattleboro, on a wide, majestic stretch of the Connecticut River, is one such born-again New England mill town, home to the world’s largest manufacturer of reed organs in the late 1800s.

When I told a friend I was coming here, she jokingly warned me to watch out for socialists, perhaps referring to the state’s reputation for independent thinking, perhaps to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-styled socialist from Vermont. But the Brattleboro I discovered seemed altogether capitalistic, with an idiosyncratic collection of small specialty stores that make it a delightful place to shop.

My favorites downtown:

Sam’s, a world-class outfitter that carries all the major outdoor labels and has a bargain balcony to boot.

Hotel Pharmacy, an ordinary drugstore except that it occupies a Victorian Gothic landmark built in 1880 as a church.

Experienced Goods, a marvelous euphemism for a thrift shop, this one a cut above the ordinary, selling furniture and collectibles to profit a local hospice.

Everyone’s Books in one of the fine 19th century storefronts along Elliot Street, family owned and operated, with a range of books, plus the latest edition of Mother Jones.

Brown & Roberts Hardware, old-fashioned, full of everything you can think of, including Mason jars by the dozen.

Save the Corporations From Themselves, sells eco-friendly hemp and cotton clothing on the ground floor and dispenses information for social activists upstairs. So, OK, there may be a socialist thread running through it, but that never stopped an entrepreneur in Vermont.

The Latchis, 50 Main St., (802) 254-6300, https://www.latchis.com, is a modest, old-fashioned hotel in a vintage Art Deco building that also houses a movie theater; doubles start around $80, including breakfast.

Amy’s Bakery Arts Café, 113 Main St., (802) 251-1071, serves breakfast, lunch and snacks, including artisan breads, homemade chocolate cupcakes and snickerdoodle cookies.

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