The village grew from beginnings late in the 18th century to serve as a modest civic, commercial, and residential hub for the rural community.

The town center, located in its far south, grew as a linear mill village on the banks of the North Branch Lamoille River.

A textile mill was founded in 1846, which manufactured flannel cloth, but the success of that and other endeavours was cut off by fire.

On the east side of the junction is the town hall, a former Universalist church building built in the mid-19th century in the Greek Revival style.

Most of the residential housing in the district is vernacular and modest in scale, typically 1+1⁄2 stories in height, and of wood-frame construction.