Vermont (VT)

Vermont State Flag

 

"The Green Mountain State"

Why visit Vermont?

A year-round destination offering antiques shops, camping, covered bridges, fall foliage, fishing, horseback riding, hunting, mountain biking, hiking, historic homes, history, museums, maple syrup, skiing, small towns, snowboarding and  snowmobiling.

Killington, VT. Photo Credit: Pixabay

At a Glance

• Capital: Montpelier
• State Bird: Hermit Thrush
• State Dessert: Apple Pie
• State Flower: Red Clover
• State Gemstone: Grossular Garnet 
• State Mammal: None
• State Rock: Granite, Marble & Slate 

Shelburne Farms, Shelburne, VT. Photo Credit: Sarah Tipton/Pixabay 

Fun Facts

• In 1535, discovered by Jacques Cartier, French Explorer.
• In 1764, King George III established a boundary between New Hampshire and New York along the Connecticut River. New York refusing to recognize the land titles, New Hampshire Grants.
• In 1777, for a short period was the Republic of New Connecticut after declaration of independence, New Hampshire Grants. Later adopting the name Vermont.
• During the 19th Century (1801 - 1900), Granite Quarries (Rutland & Barre) attracted skilled Stonecutters from Ireland, Italy and Scotland.
  
• In 1846, home to the first postage stamp made (Brattleboro).
  
• During 1858, Vermonters were instrumental to the Underground Railroad, providing refuge for escaped slaves fleeing to Canada.
  
• In 1885, thanks to resident, Wilson Bentle (Jericho) proved no two snowflakes are alike amongst 5000 photos.
• In 1934, birthplace to the first ski tow was built (Woodstock).
• In 1940, the first Social Security benefit check was paid to a local (Ludlow).
  
• In 1978, the now popular Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream opened from a renovated gas station (Burlington).
• Battles of Bennington and Saratoga are regarded as a turning point during the Revolutionary War as the first major defeat against the British Army. This anniversary battle is a legal holiday and still celebrated.
  
• In 2006, the first state to adopt Greenhouse Gas Emissions goals.
  
• Believed to once upon a time to be connected to Africa (Pangaea) with evidence of fossils and the rock formations found.
  
• In 2009, the first state to legalize same sex marriage.
• In 2009, issued the first state-wide Renewable Energy Feed-In Law.
  
• In 2014, the first state to mandate labeling of genetically modified organisms in the retail food supply.
  
• In 2018, the first state to legalize cannabis for recreational use and ninth state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. The second most LGBT population density state.
• Climate Change has impacted the state with increased flooding, storms, winters have become warmer and shorter.
  
• Marble from the quarry (East Dorset) was used to build the Thomas Jefferson Memorial (Washington, DC).
  
• Invasive wild honeysuckle is a threat to the state's forests, native species of plants and wildlife.
  
• Sugar Maple Trees require a period of cold to produce sap for maple syrup. The time to tap these trees has shrunk to one week in recent years. Trees are being stressed by acid rain, asian longhorn beetles and pear thrips (bug). A leading producer of maple syrup.
• Agriculturally, Dairy Farming is their primary source.
• Over 78% of the state's land area is forest.
• Their economy is based on the "Vermont brand", in manufacturing and sale of artisan foods, fancy foods, ginseng growers, microbreweries and novelty item trading. Best known for Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Burton Snowboards, Cabot Cheese, Fine Paints of Europe, King Arthur Flour, Vermont Butter & Cheese Company and Vermont Teddy Bear Company.
• Largest producer of slate and leading exporters of granite in the country.
  
• Use of billboard advertising along roads is prohibited.
  
• Has 78 hydropower dams, which generates 143 MW resulting in approximately 12% of the state's demand.
  
• Only state in the union not to have a balanced budget requirement.
• Features 1 National Forests and 52 State Parks.

Lake Champlain, VT. Photo Credit: Don Johnoghue/Pixabay 

Thank You!

• Spotlight Celebrities: Anna Konkle (Actress), Calvin Coolidge (President), Carlton Fisk (Athlete), Chester A Arthur (President), Elle Anderson (Athlete), Gabriel Mann (Actor), Jay Hayden (Actor), Keegan Bradley (Athlete), Orson Bean (Actor) and Susan Bennett (Actress), just to name a few.
• Movies to Inspire You: American Gun (2000), Baby Boom (1987), Ethan Frome (1993), Forrest Gump (1993), Funny Farm (1988), I am the Cheese (1982), Icebreaker (1998), Me Myself & Irene (1994), Mud Season (1998), Nothing Like Dreaming (2002), Ordinary Sinner (2000), Star Trek (2009), The Cider House Rules (1999), The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983), The Haven (1999), The Mudge Boy (2002), The Newcomers (1999) and Vermont is for Lovers (1992), just to name a few.
• Reads Set in Vermont:  All the Best People (written by 
  Sonja Yoerg), 
  Bittersweet (written by 
  Miranda Beverly-Whittemore), 
  Life Among the Savages (written by 
  Shirley Jackson), 
  Midwives (written by 
  Chris Bohjalian), 
  Moonlighting In Vermont (written by 
  Kate George), 
  Northern Borders (written by 
  Howard Frank Mosher), 
  Off the Leash (written by 
  Helen Husher), 
  Pollyanna (written by 
  Eleanor H Porter
  ), 
  Robert Frost's Poems (written by 
  Robert Frost), 
  Sacred Gold (written by 
  Linda Rawlins), 
  Snowflake Bentley (written by 
  Jacqueline Briggs Martin), 
  Wandering Home (written by Bill 
  McKibben), 
  Walking to Vermont (written by 
  Christopher S. Wren) and 
  Where the Rivers Flow North (written by 
  Howard Frank Mosher), just to name a few.

Wintery Covered Bridge, VT. Photo Credit:  Michelle Maria/Pixabay 

Good to Know

• Foliage is best late September through mid October. Consider taking the views from one of the state ski chairlifts.
  
• Spring weather comes late and is referred to as "Muddy Season".
  
• Official Ccenic Byways includes Route 108 through Smuggler's Notch, Route 125 on Middlebury Gap Road and Route 131 on Cavendish Road.
  
• Snowmobile Season is mid December through mid April.
  
• New England Culinary Institute operates open to the public restaurants, La Brioche Bakery & Café (Montpelier) and NECI on Main (Montpelier).
• Ferry Service operates year round from New York State across Lake Champlain from Burlington, Charlotte, Grand Isle and Shoreham. 
• Beware of Timber Rattlesnake, a venomous snake.
• "Woodchuck" refers to long rooted natives and "Flatlander" to newcomers, a controversial divide between then and now.
  
• Native locals speak with an accent, you will notice they drop the "r " sound in words ending in "r" (example: "farmer" said like "farm-uh") and will add an "r" sound to words ending with a vowel (example: "idea" said like "idee-er"). Such an accent inherited roots from Scots-Irish and West Country ancestors.
• Hunting is controlled for black bear, deer, moose and wild turkeys. Waterfowl Hunting (October 13 - December 16) is also controlled by Federal Law.
  
• Amongst the New England states has the largest ski areas.
  
• State Sales Tax rate is 6% and some cities/towns charge an additional 1% Local Option Tax. Tax Exemptions for clothing, food, fuel, medical items and shoes.
  

Subject to earthquakes, hurricanes, intense flooding and snowstorms.

• Coldest Month: January
• Hottest Month: July 
• Peak Season: July - September

Burlington (Church Street), VT. Photo Credit: Michelle Maria/Pixabay 

Your Must-See & Do

• Historical Sites: Brown Bridge, Calvin Coolidge Homestead District, Emma Willard House, George Perkins Marsh Boyhood Home, Justin S Morrill Homestead, Mount Independence, Naulakha (Rudyard Kipling House), Robbins & Lawrence Armory & Machine Shop, Robert Frost Farm, Rockingham Meeting House, Rokeby, Round Church, Shelburne Farms, Socialist Labor Party Hall, St Johnsbury Athenaeum, Stellafane Observatory, Ticonderoga (Side-Paddle-Wheel Lakeboat) and Vermont Statehouse.
• Museums: American Museum of Fly Fishing, American Precision Museum, Bennington Museum, Birds of Vermont Museum, Billings Farm & Museum, Black River Academy Museum, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Cavendish Historical Society Museum, Chimney Point Historic Museum, Dorset Historical Society, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Elizabeth de C Wilson Museum, Estey Organ Museum, Ethan Allen Homestead Museum, Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium, Farrar-Mansur House & Museum, Fleming Museum of Art, Fort Ethan Allen Museum, Grafton Historical Society, Hall Art Foundation, Henry Sheldon Museum, Heritage Winooski Mill Museum, Hildene the Lincoln Family Home, John Strong Mansion Museum, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Madsonian Museum of Industrial Design, Main Street Museum, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Montshire Museum of Science, Mt Holly Community Museum, Museum of the Creative Process, New England Maple Museum, Norman Rockwell Museum, Noyes House Museum, Old Stone House Museum, Robert Frost Stone House Museum, Rokeby Museum, Saint Albans Museum, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne Museum Covered Bridge, Southern Vermont Natural History Museum, Sullivan Museum & History Center, The Kent Museum, The Museum of Everyday Life, The Nature Museum,  The Old Mill Museum, The Perkins Geology Museum, Vermont Folklife Center, Vermont Granite Museum, Vermont Historical Society Museum, Vermont Marble Museum, Vermont Museums-Mining & Minerals, Vermont National Guard Library & Museum, Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum, Vermont Toy Museum and Wonderfeet Kid's Museum. 
• Popular Attractions: Bear Ridge Speedway, Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard, Bennington Battle Monument, Bingham Falls, Bolton Valley, Bread & Puppet Theater, Bromley Mountain, Burlington City Arts, Cabot Creamery, Camel Hump, Chaffee Art Center,  Champlain Valley Exposition, Church Street Marketplace, Coburn Covered Bridge, Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Coolidge Homestead, Crowley Cheese Factory, Devil's Bowl Speedway, Equinox Mountain, Eureka Schoolhouse, Factory Marketplace, Grafton Village Cheese Company, Great Vermont Corn Maze, Green Mountain National Forest, Green Mountain Railroad, Hands Cove, Hope Cemetery, Jay Peak, Killington Ski Area, Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial, Justin Smith Morrill Homestead, Kingdom Trails, Lake Champlain, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Moss Glen Falls, Mount Ellen, Mount Mansfield, Mount Snow, Park–McCullough Historic Governor's Mansion, Pico Mountain, Pump House Indoor Waterpark, Shelburne Farms, Quechee Gorge, Reverence, Rock of Ages Granite Quarry, Smugglers' Notch, Sojourns In Nature Fine Art Gallery, Steamboat Ticonderoga, St Johnsbury Athenaeum, Stowe Mountain, Stratton Mountain, Suicide Six, Sugarbush Farm, The Art of Humor Gallery, Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Vermont State House, Warren Falls and Waterfront Park.
• Popular Cities/Towns to Visit:Brattleboro, Burke, Burlington, Chester, Chittenden, Cuttingsville, Dorset, Essex, Grafton, Hartford, Healdville, Killington, Manchester, Middlebury, Montpelier, Quechee, Plymouth, Shelburne, South Burlington, South Woodstock, Stowe, Vergennes, Waitsfield, Waterbury, Weston, Windsor, Weston and Woodstock. 
• Special Events: (January) Marlboro Music Festival, Ice Harvest, Winter Carnival, (February) Magic Hat Mardi Gras Parade & Party, Winter is a Drag Ball, (March) Vermont Brewers Festival, Vermont Maple Open House Weekend, (April) Green Mountain Film Festival, Rasputitsa Spring Classic, Vermont Maple Festival, (May) All Species Day Parade & Spring Pageant, Blackfly Festival, Burlington Kids Day, Flavors of the Valley, Shakespeare Festival, (June) Discover Jazz Festival, Jenny Brook Bluegrass Festival, Music Under the Stars, Northeast Kingdom Cultural Heritage Day, Quechee Hot Air Balloon Craft & Music Festival, Strolling of the Heifers, Vermont Dairy Festival, Vermont Quilt Festival, (July) Arts Fest & Friday Night Block Party, BBQ Festival, Blueberry Bash, Festival of Fools, Kaleidoscope Festival, Mad Half Marathon, Middlebury Summer Festival, Native American Craft Show, (August) Champlain Valley Fair, Champlain Valley Folk Festival, Corn Festival, Deerfield Valley Farmers’ Day Fair, Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festival, Moose Festival, Vermont Antique & Classic Car Show, Vermont Cheesemakers Festival, Vermont State Zucchini Festival, (September) Brewers Festival, Fairbanks Festival of Traditional Crafts, Festival on the Green, Oktoberfest, Peru Fair, Plymouth Cheese & Harvest Festival, Plymouth Folk & Blues Festival, Steampunk Festival, Tunbridge World's Fair, Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival, Vermont Small Farms Food Fest, Vermont State Fair, Westmore Mountain Challenge, (October) Apple Festival, Fall Dog Party, Fall Foliage Festival, Turnip Festival, Vermont International Film Festival, (December) Christmas Eve Sleigh Ride and Hildene Holiday Evenings.

St Albans, VT. Photo Credit: Michelle Maria/Pixabay 

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