Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Louis L. McAllister photographed people and places near Burlington, Vermont for 60 years. He was born in Columbus, Nebraska on October 16, 1876, the son of Julius S. McAllister (born 1841 in Lincoln, VT) and Rosette Gould (born in Vermont in 1851). Julius McAllister worked as a photographer and dentist in Washington D.C., Bristol, Vermont and Columbus, Nebraska. Around 1895, Julius, his third wife Amy, and their children left Nebraska for the Union Soldiers’ Colony in Fitzgerald, Georgia. By 1900, Julius and Amy were divorced, and Amy and her stepson Louis were working as photographers in Thomasville, Georgia.
In 1907 Louis McAllister married Cora Shepard (born about 1872 in Vermont) in Holland, Michigan. By 1910, they were living in Queen City Park in South Burlington, Vermont, where Louis established a photography studio. The McAllisters moved to Burlington, and by 1919 they lived at 47 N. Winooski Avenue. They continued to occupy a summer cottage at Queen City Park, and were active in the Queen City Park Association, which held spiritualist camp meetings annually. McAllister conducted his photography business from home until his death in 1963.
McAllister’s “trademark” was his panorama camera which made him familiar to all sorts of groups ranging from graduating classes to state police to summer camp groups. In addition he did print 8 x 10 photos, many of which document building construction and Burlington Street Department projects, as well as group and individual portraits.
The L.L. McAllister Collection includes portraits, construction projects, buildings, businesses and events in the Burlington area covering the period ca. 1920-1960. The collection also includes photos of street, bridge, airport and sewer construction and repair, as well as group portraits of clubs, schools, etc.
Revised April, 2010
Showing 11 - 20 of 105 Records
Portraits - Unidentified Groups
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- Date Created: 1956-1957
- Description: 1956 or 1957 indoor Christmas group portrait photo of men and women gathered in a rustic restaurant with knotty pine walls. Overhead hangs a tissue paper bell and pine bows decorate the dining tables as well as candles and a small Santa. Photo #2.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Portraits - Unidentified Groups
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- Date Created: 1958
- Description: 1958 photo of group of young people and a few adults gathered at a rustic interior restaurant. Photo #2.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
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- Date Created: 1937
- Description: 1937 restaurant interior. Tables and chairs give it the look of a Western saloon, which the fish and deer trophies can only enhance. Stuffed owl over curtained French doors? Some black marble panels, a latticed double door with curtains, and a chandelier lend it some elegance. (Name and location unknown.)
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Weddings
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- Date Created: 1947
- Description: 1947 bride, groom, members of the wedding party and parents pose in a restaurant.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Black Cat Cafe
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- Description: 1935/37 Black Cat Cafe & Sea Grill at 160 Bank St, Burlington, Vermont. Interior photo. Employees and management stand for a group photo. Charles Chantis, proprietor. The restaurant burned in the 1970s along with the rest of the block.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Portraits - Unidentified Groups
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- Date Created: 1947-1948
- Description: Ca. 1947 photo of restaurant scene, with perhaps a family celebration in progress. Identity of persons, venue, occasion unknown.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Portraits - Unidentified Groups
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- Date Created: circa 1946
- Description: Ca. 1946 photo of large group of men dressed in suits, gathered in a restaurant or other dining facility for a portrait. Identity of group, location, and occasion are unknown.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Portraits - Unidentified Groups
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- Date Created: 1949
- Description: 1949 photo printed from a damaged negative. A group of older men and women sit at dining tables in a restaurant. Stage with piano seen center background. Walls are knotty pine, floor hard wood, drop panel ceiling. Photo #5.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Portraits - Unidentified Groups
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- Date Created: 1949-1950
- Description: 1949 or 1950 group portrait of women and four men at dining tables at a restaurant.
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Portraits - Unidentified Groups
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- Date Created: 1952
- Description: 1952 group portrait of men and women (including the chef) gathered around several dining tables in a restaurant or other public or commercial space. Photo #2. The seated woman in print dress seen also in mcalB16F05i01, i03, i04 and i05 images
- Parent Collections: Louis L. McAllister Photographs