Bellows Falls Vermont, Then and Now

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A canal and a railroad bridge in Bellows Falls, Vermont in April 2020.
A canal and a railroad bridge in Bellows Falls, Vermont in April 2020. This was the first canal ever built in the U.S., going back to 1802, built to pass by the Great Falls on the Connecticut River.

Bellows Falls, Like the Rest of the World, Survived and Then Thrived after the Pandemic

We paid a harrowing visit–well, perhaps that’s a bit dramatic–but we paid a visit to a riverside village of BellowsIMG 0231 Falls Vermont, right after the beginning of the Pandemic in April 2020.  It was a sad time, we walked deserted streets and had no idea what would be coming next. Dread walking.

This is a city that sits right next to the Connecticut River, where Amtrak trains slide by town and then enter a short tunnel beneath the main drag. It’s a town with a theater, a few cafes, and even an Opera House.

At the time of our April 2020 visit, we were masked up, and fearful, and the craziness and division of the pandemic were in high gear. We had been told we had to wash all of our food from the grocery store, and no one had any idea how long this would last.

We wanted a getaway from the drudgery of having to stay home all the with everything closed. IT was a terrible time, but the thing that made it unique is that WE ALL SUFFERED TOGETHER. Somehow that made it much more tolerable.

Bellows Falls was all open for business on our visit in January 2023, it was a welcome sight to see.
Bellows Falls was all open for business on our visit in January 2023, it was a welcome sight to see.

Fast Forward to 2023

In April 2020, this was a sad sight, all of the businesses on the main drag of Bellows Falls were closed.
In April 2020, this was a sad sight, all of the businesses on the main drag of Bellows Falls were closed.

We returned to Bellows Falls last Sunday and were pleased to see all of the shops that were open and the friendly people we met there.  The town has an interesting layout, with two cafes facing each other on either side of a street that’s just down from the main drag, on the other side of the buildings that line Main Street.

IMG 2798We stopped at Rockingham Roasters, where the smell of the coffee wafted over us and the cafe was lit by streams of sunlight.  The women there shared that things are going well with plenty of customers and travelers like us stopping in.  The ski areas nearby bring tourists, and lots of people swerve off Route 5 to come to check the little village out.

I was heartened as we walked by the hardware store, antique dealers, and the Opera House. An Amtrak train, the Vermonter heading down from St. Albans, passed by us and slipped through a tunnel, and out the other side, we walked around and saw a restored flour mill.

Bellows Falls is an incorporated village in the town of Rockingham. There are 2727 residents as of the 2020 census.  This is the home of the Green Mountain Railway, a historic and scenic train that takes tourists through the glorious leaves of the fall and other special occasions.

We saw the GMR train on a siding next to the Chamber of Commerce office, that’s in the Amtrak station by the river.