East Calais is located in the eastern part of the town of Calais, on Vermont Route 14. The village is set on either side of Kingsbury Brook, which is paralleled by the highway in a relatively narrow valley. The traditional industrial and commercial heart of the village on the east side of the brook, lining the highway, with a general store and 19th-century Greek Revival church. There is a 19th-century dam spanning the brook and a former grist mill standing nearby. Most of the residential architecture is 19th century, reflecting the area's importance in that period as a small-scale manufacturing center.[5]
History
The town of Calais was incorporated in 1786, and grew in the early 19th century as a collection of independent villages. The first sawmill in East Calais was built about 1800 by John Lilley, a settler originally from Charlton, Massachusetts. By 1840, the mill complex included saw and grist mills, a trip hammer, forge, and other industries. The village also served as a major stop on a north-south stagecoach route. A major fire in 1873 destroyed ten buildings at the heart of the village, including its only hotel, the Moscow House. A small park now marks the site where those buildings stood. The mills operated until 1943; the gristmill was the last to operate in the town.[5]
