Learn More - Explore Vermont through Books and
Video Presentations
1609 - Samuel de Champlain claimed the Vermont region for France.
1690 - Jacobus de Warm led British soldiers from Albany, New York to a point
near the site of present-day Middlebury, Vermont.
1724 - Vermont's first permanent white settlement was made at Fort Dummer, in
what is now Brattleboro.
February 22, 1754 - The Town of Chester was originally chartered by New
Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth under the name of Flamstead. Chester was
one of the first towns chartered in Windsor County.
Chester Depot Vermont, Prominent Building
(Center/Right) is currently the Chester Town Office (From Postcard Image)
1761 - The township of Windsor was originally settled by farmers, millwrights,
blacksmiths and carpenters. Windsor is referred to as "the birthplace of
Vermont".
Sometime between 1761 and 1763 - After failing to meet obligations of the
charter, a second grant was issued naming the town New Flamstead. In 1764, two
families arrived to settle.
July 14, 1766 - A third charter was granted by Governor Tyron of the province of
New York and New Flamstead was changed to Chester.
1774 - The fierce independence of the town gave rise to Chester's own
Declaration of Independence, which resolved that acts of the British Parliament.
Though Vermonters fought in the Revolution, they withdrew from the newly formed
nation making Chester part of an independent republic until Vermont was granted
statehood in 1789. Located at the convergence of the three branches of the
Williams River, Chester offered fertile ground for farming to the early
settlers.
May 10, 1775 - The Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen (with Colonel Benedict
Arnold) captured Fort Ticonderoga (in New York) from the British in the
Revolutionary War.
January 15, 1777 - Vermont declared itself an independent republic.
"New Connecticut" is declared an Independent State of the New Union.(1)
June 4, 1777 - "New Connecticut's" name is changed to
"Vermont" as the name "New Connecticut" is already in use in PA. Another
convention for Vermont is scheduled for July in Windsor.(1)
July 2, through July 8, 1777 - A convention held in
Windsor, Vermont drafts a Constitution and adopts the Constitution on July 8,
amidst a severe thunderstorm. The Constitution is the first to abolish slavery,
first to allow for public education, and the first to allow common voting
rights. Three major advancements in civil rights. Vermont also becomes the first
state to establish the right of inhabitants to hunt or fish in its waters, and
on its lands. The convention in Windsor established a new Republic of Vermont,
from 1777-1791.(1)
Early 1900's Main Street, Ludlow Vermont (From
Postcard Image)
March 4, 1791 - Vermont became the 14th state. Vermont is the first State to
join the original thirteen colonies in the new Union. Its Constitution is the
first such document to outlaw slavery, the first to prevent a person from being
transported out of the state for a crime committed within, and the first to
provide for a state university.
1794 - The Rutland Herald is Vermont's oldest continuously published newspaper.
It began as a weekly in 1794.
1805 - Montpelier becomes the State Capital.
1812 - Vermont volunteers fought the British in the battles of Chippewa, Lundy's
Lane, and Plattsburgh. But the War of 1812 was unpopular in Vermont, because
trade with British-controlled Canada had become important to the state's
economy. Hard times came to Vermont after the war.
1823 to 1836 - During a prosperous period, many persons moved from Vermont to
the growing Midwest. They feared future economic hardships in Vermont.
1823 - Opening of the Champlain Canal created a water route between VT and NYC.
Hotel Windham, Downtown Bellows Falls Vermont,
Early 1900's Postcard Image.
A fire destroyed the fourth floor in 1912. Hotel structure still exists
today, though the hotel closed decades ago.
Now home to several street level stores and galleries, including
The Windham Performance
Space.
1823 - Samuel Read Hall, a pioneer educator, established the first
teacher-training school in the United States at Concord.
1840 - By 1840, Vermont had six times as many sheep as persons. Many small,
water-powered mills were built in Vermont to process the wool from the sheep.
During the mid-1800's, competition from Western states and other countries made
wool prices drop. By 1860, Vermont farmers had sold half their sheep to be used
as meat. This crisis caused Vermont to change from a sheep-raising state to a
dairy-farming state.
1849 - The railroad from Boston to Lake Champlain was completed and Chester
became a commercial and shipping hub for the surrounding communities as well.
The prosperity that came with the railroad built many of the Victorian style
buildings on the Chester Village Green (Route 11), now part of a historic
district on the National Register of Historic Places, and the stone buildings
which make up the Stone Village on North Street (Route 103).
1881 - Chester A. Arthur, born in Fairfield Vermont became the 21st President of
the United States.
1900 - Vermont's tourist industry grew rapidly during the early 1900's. Many
large resort hotels and vacation camps were built.
1911 - Vermont became the first state with an official publicity bureau to
attract tourists.
1923 - Calvin Coolidge, born in Plymouth Notch became the 30th President of the
United States.
1923 - The state flag (adopted in 1923) bears the VT coat of arms.
Circa 1900's View of the Adna Brown Hotel,
Springfield Vermont
1927 - The worst flood in Vermont history occurred in November. Waters from the
Winooski River and branches of the Connecticut River swept away entire sections
of towns. The flood caused 60 deaths.
1930 - Vermont's first radio station, WSYB, opened in Rutland.
1930 - The nationwide Great Depression of the 1930's brought severe hardship to
Vermont. Many small factories and lumber mills closed.
1954 - The first television station, WCAX-TV, began broadcasting from
Burlington. This means that Vermont had no television station when Lucille Ball
& Desi Arnaz debuted
"I Love Lucy" on October 15, 1951.
1962 - Philip H. Hoff became first Democrat elected Governor of Vermont since
1853.
1970 - Vermont legislature passed the Environmental Control Law. This law
permitted Vermont to limit major development's that could harm the state's
environment.
1984 - Madeleine M. Kunin became first woman elected Governor of Vermont.
Unique Vermont Facts:
| The word Vermont comes from "Vert Mont", the French words for Green
Mountain. Vermont's nickname is the Green Mountain State. |
| The State Motto is "Freedom & Unity". |
| Vermont ranks 48th among all the states in population with less then
600,000 people (or about 59 per square mile). Compare that to the estimated
population of 7,500,000 people in New York City. |
| Nearly 25% of Vermonts population live in the Burlington Metropolitan
Area. |
| Vermont has 49 villages and 242 towns. |
| Vermont has the lowest percentage of city dwellers of any state in the
nation. |
| Forests cover about 75% of the state. |
| Vermont is about 9,600 square miles. |
| Vermont is the only New England state without any coastline along the
Atlantic Ocean - but, water borders more than half the state! The Connecticut
River forms Vermont's entire eastern border. |
| Vermont has about 430 lakes and ponds (compared to as many as 22,000 in
Minnesota). |
| The average high temperature in July is 68 degrees and in January, 17
degrees. |
| The state song is "Hail, Vermont!", words and music by Josephine Hovey
Perry. |
| The time clock was invented by James A. Sargent of Chester. |
| The state flower is the Red Clover and the state tree is the Sugar Maple.
The state bird is the Hermit Thrush. |
| Vermont is the largest producer of Maple Syrup in the United States. |
| Vermont towns use the town meeting form of government, the purest type of
democracy. |