MRVPD works to “identify and promote the Valley’s historic and cultural heritage” (MRV Vision Statement).
We work to protect the natural, historical, and cultural rural resources that make the MRV community what it is today. MRVPD accomplishes this primarily through its facilitation of the Mad River Valley Rural Resource Commission. These efforts are critical to maintaining the deep sense of place that residents value and draws in visitors from around the world.
- In the late 1980s, MRVPD helped to form the Mad River Valley Rural Resource Commission (RRC) for the “Identification, evaluation, registration, and preservation of historic properties,” and integration of “local preservation interests and concerns into planning and decision-making processes.” The RRC was the first district of its kind in Vermont to become a Certified Local Government (CLG) under the National Historic Preservation Act. The RRC is composed of members appointed by the MRVPD Steering Committee who are charged with tasks including: maintaining an inventory of historic properties; advising local decision-making bodies on preservation-related policy; and seeking and preparing grants.
Foundational Documents
2022 Status Update
Join the Rural Resource Commission!
The RRC is looking for new members and community participation. If interested, please contact
MRVPD Community Planner, Sam Robinson ([email protected]).
Creation/support of National Register of Historic Places Historic Districts, or additions to districts
- Waitsfield Village Historic District (1983); Nomination Form
- Warren Village Historic District (1992); Nomination Form
- Timber Crib Dam (2012)
- MRV Rural Historic District (1994); Nomination Form
- McLaughlin Farm (Knoll Farm) Historic District (1996); Nomination Form
- Waitsfield Common Historic District (2001); Nomination Form
- Mad River Glen Ski Area Historic District (2011)
Creation/support of National Register of Historic Places individual nominations
- Joslin Round Barn Farm (1988); Nomination Form
- Jones-Pestle Farmstead (2015); Nomination Form
- Lareau Farmstead (2016); Nomination Form
Education
- Kicking Stones Down a Dirt Road: Rural Resource Protection in Vermont’s Mad River Valley (1998)
- MRV Land Conservation Resource Guide (1999)
- Saving Place: Changes and the Mad River Valley’s Rural Resources video (2002)
- History of VT Bridges Presentation (2006)
- MRV Hill Farm Research Project
- Historical Essay: Hill Farming of the Mad River Valley (2013)
- Video: Hill Farming in the Mad River Valley (2014)
Historic Sites and Structures Surveys and Projects
- Archaeology in Vermont’s Mad River Valley from Paleo-Indian times to the present, Dowd and Trubitt (1990)
- MRV Barn Needs Assessment (2002)
- Fayston Historic Roads Survey (2003)
- Mad River Valley Historic Sites and Structures Survey Report (2003)
- Joslin Memorial Library Fixture Rewiring Project (2020)
Support Preservation Grants
- General Wait House (1996)
- Seibert/Lawton Barn (1999)
- Joslin Memorial Library (1999)
- Knoll Farm Bank Barn (2003)
- Edgecombe Farm Barn (2015)
- Lareau Farm Barn (2014)
- Turner Place Barn (2015)
Applying for CLG Grants for Planning & Implementation
- Fayston Historic Landscape Protection Project (2004)
- Evaluation of Public Historic Resources in Warren (2006)
- Wait House Barns (2006)
- Warren Town Hall (2008)
- Warren Blair Barn (2012)
Advocacy for Rural Resource Preservation
- Sugarbush Grand Summit Hotel – Act 250 (1998)
- Heritage Museum of VT, Waitsfield – DRB (1998)
- Waitsfield/Moretown Route 100 Road Improvement Project – VTrans (2000)
- 100/17 realignment - VTrans (2003)
- Warren Timber Crib Dam (2004)
- Wilder Farm Inn Barns (2009)
- Waitsfield Village Streetscape Projects (2010)
- Simko Barn, Waitsfield – DRB (2010)
- Mad River Scenic Byway Designation of Route 100, between Moretown and Granville (2010)