McDermotts Esso Station
Known Name(s)
McDermotts Esso Station
Address
71 S. Union St. Burlington, VT
Establishment Type(s)
Service Station
Physical Status
Extant
Detailed History
McDermott Esso Station, advertised in the Green Book, was operated by Harold Edward McDermott (1896-1967), a white man originally from St. Albans, Vermont. The city directory and Burlington Free Press advertised the station as The Tire Service Inc. In 1924, McDermott married Ruth Elizabeth Nelson (1899-1986) of Barre at St. Monica’s Church. He had been the foreman of the Foundry Garage in St. Albans for five years. Ruth was an accomplished musician; she played the organ at St. Monica’s and was employed by Bailey Music Rooms in Barre. After her marriage, she transferred to the Bailey Music Rooms in St. Albans and gave piano lessons there. By 1940, the couple and their daughter, Ruth, were living on Brookes Avenue in Burlington. By this time McDermott was the proprietor of The Tire Service Inc. During World War II, he taught welding at a government school at Lyman C. Hunt. The family lived at 82 Hungerford Terrace, a Colonial Revival-style single-family dwelling. We know little about them after that, except that The Green Book included McDermott’s Esso Station in its 1947-1949 issues. Harold McDermott was retired by 1967, when he died of cardiovascular disease at his camp in St. Albans Bay. Ruth McDermont lived in Burlington for the rest of her life, passing away at 86 years of age. Both she and Harold are buried in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
