Paul Holland Knowlton’s Home

In 1815, Vermont-born entrepreneur Paul Holland Knowlton purchased a 316-acre piece of land from his relative, Ezekiel Knowlton. The land was in an area known then as the Township of Brome. After farming for years in Stukely, where his family had first settled in 1796, Paul made his way to what is now to Brome Lake and settled around the lake. That is where the future founder of the village of Knowlton built his first home. Upon settling in the area, he cleared the land for farming and built a 20 by 30 foot log cabin. He also established a store and distillery on the property. When the cabin was built, there were no roads around the lake and he accessed his residence by boat. It is also assumed that he built his log cabin from materials that were in close vicinity considering there was no city center nearby and there were no roads, making it difficult to access and transport building materials. Paul lived in his first home up until 1834 before moving closer to Knowlton near a large stream. That is when he started to establish the town of Knowlton, then known as Coldbrooke, by purchasing water rights. See full story in the Sept. 10 edition of the Brome County News.