Then Again: A ‘hotbed of radicalism,’ Barre was first in Vermont to elect Socialist mayor

Barre granite workers gather for a photo taken between 1910 and 1915. Union members made up a large portion of local voters, who elected a socialist as mayor in 1916.
"Vermont’s first socialist mayor wasn’t known for his unruly white hair or his Brooklyn accent. He kept his hair short and his mustache neatly trimmed, and if he had a discernible accent, it was a remnant of the brogue he picked up during his childhood in Scotland. Like Bernie Sanders, Robert Gordon wasn’t what the establishment was looking for in a mayor. Business and community leaders were interested in maintaining the status quo, but Gordon saw changes that needed to be made in his adopted home of Barre. By the time Gordon ran for mayor in 1916, Barre had experienced decades of dramatic change. In 1870, Barre had been an unremarkable Vermont town with a population of roughly 1,900. But after the Central Vermont Railroad built a spur to access the local granite quarries, Barre’s population soared. ..."
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