Water finds a way: Ruins of 200-year-old Cabot dam to be cleared

Between houses and greenery in the heart of Cabot, the Winooski River now runs unrestricted. Rubble along the banks serves as the sole reminder of what once was — a dam that powered industry in the town for decades.

The Clark Sawmill Dam, the most common name for the dam about 5 miles downstream from the source of the river, collapsed suddenly during the catastrophic flooding that hit Vermont in 2023, punctuating years of back-and-forths about its future.

Now the town hopes to clean up the area, removing the rubble and restoring the riverbank to create an undeveloped natural area.

“There's debris from the components of the dam and the sawmill that are still there after many, many years, and we basically want it to be turned into a green space,” said Michael Hogan, town selectboard chair