Pawlett Historical Society

08/18/2026

Remembering John Malcolm

Longtime Pawlett Historical Society trustee John Malcolm passed away at home in Pawlet on July 13, 2026. He was 75. We know this news hasn't reached everyone, and we wanted to be sure you heard it. His obituary is linked below.

John gave the Society over two decades of his skills, knowledge, and inimitable wry humor. He wrote the History of Pawlet on our website, so if you've ever gone looking for how this town came to be, you've read his work. As a longtime dairy farmer (Vermont Dairyman of the Year in 1990), he loved Pawlet's hill farms and barns and the families who work this land, and he wanted their stories told.

We'll be honoring John in our upcoming newsletter.

Our sympathies to Susan LaPorte and John's family.

If you have a memory of John, please leave it in the comments. We'd love to read them.

Obituary from the Herald:

John W. Malcolm PAWLET — John William Malcolm, 75, died at home in Pawlet, VT, on July 13, 2026, from multiple myeloma. Born in Abington, PA to James A., Jr.,

06/14/2026

Help solve a Pawlet mystery! Did you live in Pawlet in 1976? Fifty years ago, townsfolk buried a time capsule here in honor of our nation's Bicentennial. Trouble is, we don't know where. If you were in Pawlet at the time and remember the location, could you please post your recollection in the comments? (Note, we're not talking about the 1991 time capsule near the North Pawlet School. That one is safely accounted for and waiting patiently until 2091.)

05/17/2026

More coverage of the ceremony in West Pawlet to commemorate Pawlet's role in the reintroduction of the wild turkey to Vermont. You can listen, but click on the link to see one of the best photos of the event.

Community members, government officials and conservation groups gathered to celebrate nearly 60 years of wild turkey restoration.

05/12/2026

More coverage of the Wild Turkey Restoration commemoration in West Pawlet. "“I am a lifelong Vermonter,” [Brett Ladeau, Vermont NWTF State Chapter president] said in his speech. “When I was a kid, there were not many turkeys in the eastern part of the state, and I remember hearing about the restoration efforts, but didn’t see my first wild turkey until I was 17.”

“The reintroduction of the wild turkey to the Northeastern states has long been considered one of the greatest conservation success stories of all time, and that certainly applies to the state of Vermont,” said Carter Heath, NWTF regional director for New England. “The partnership between Verm...

04/18/2026

Here are a few photos from today’s celebration of Pawlet as the site where wild turkey restoration was launched in Vermont. They were wiped out in Vermont by the 1800s and other states due to loss of habitat through extensive forest clearing and unregulated subsistence harvesting. Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers shared that growing up in the Northeast Kingdom, he’d never even seen a wild turkey in his part of the state. Today, turkey populations thrive thanks to what is recognized as one of the nation’s great wildlife restoration success stories. Those efforts were funded by federal excise taxes on fi****ms and ammunition through the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937 and state hunting license dollars. Stop by the D&H Rail Trail in West Pawlet to read about it on the new sign posted there.

It’s a good news story for us all, whether you’re a turkey hunter, nature lover, or just admire these creatures when they choose to cross the road in front of your car as you drive down River Road.