Vermont

HISTORY

Vermont was home to the Mohawk and the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki Native American groups for thousands of years. The area was later claimed by France's colony of New France, but Great Britain gained control after winning the French and Indian War in 1763.

A group of settlers established the Vermont Republic on January 15, 1777 as an independent state during the American Revolutionary War.  It declared independence from the jurisdictions and land claims of the British colony of Quebec, and the U.S. states of New Hampshire and New York.

The Constitution of Vermont was adopted on July 8, 1777.

The Old Constitution House at Windsor, where the Constitution of Vermont was adopted

The Vermont Republic existed as an independent country for 14 years. A popular poem from Vermont at the time read "Come York or come Hampshire, come traitors or knaves, If ye rule o'er our land ye shall rule o'er our graves; Our vow is recorded—our banner unfurled, In the name of Vermont we defy all the world!"

Before Vermont became a state they tried to become part of Quebec, but Quebec refused so Vermont joined the United States instead.

Vermont became the first state to enter the United States after the thirteen colonies on March 4, 1791.

The state legislature made Montpelier the state capital in 1805.

The Vermont State House in Montpelier Photographed by Justin A. Wilcox

James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were once arrested together for taking a carriage ride in the countryside of Vermont on a Sabbath, which violated the laws of that state.

The Jungle Book was written by Rudyard Kipling when he moved to Brattleboro, Vermont in 1892. Kipling lived in the United States for four years.

Vermont declared war on Germany months before Pearl Harbor. On September 16, 1941, Vermont’s Legislature reinterpreted a military order issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to establish a state of armed conflict with Germany.

The Von Trapp family, whose escape from Austria during World War II was made famous in the 1965 musical The Sound of Music, moved to Stowe, Vermont, because the place reminded them of the Alpine setting they left behind.

FUN VERMONT FACTS

Vermont is the only New England state without a seacoast.

The town of Derby Line, Vermont, is bisected by the US-Canada border, even cutting some houses in half. The entrance to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, for example, is in the US but the stage is in Canada. The building is open to free use by both Canadians and Americans, provided they enter and leave from their country's respective doors.

Haskell Free Library On US-Canadian Border

The population of Montpelier was 7,855 at the 2010 census. By population, it is the smallest state capital in the United States.

Montpelier is dedicated to keeping things local and it is the only US state capital where there is no McDonald's.

Vermont was the last U.S. state to get a Walmart, holding out until 1996. It didn't have any Target stores until 2018.

Burlington is the most populous city in Vermont. Its population was 42,452 according to a 2015 U.S. census estimate, making it the least populous city to be the most populous city in a state.

In 1978 Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened an ice cream parlor in a renovated gas station in downtown Burlington. Ben & Jerry's operate nowadays globally as a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch Unilever conglomerate. Its headquarters is in South Burlington, Vermont, with its main factory in Waterbury, Vermont.

Vermont has the highest percentage of cat owners of all the US states.

Vermont has the greatest number of dairy cows in the US in ratio of cows to people.

Because of logging and grazing, the percent of Vermont covered by forest was just 30% in 1870. Today, that figure is around 78%!

Vermont passed a law in 1999 that the state pie is apple and one must make a “good faith effort” to serve it with either a glass of cold milk, 1/2 oz. of cheddar cheese, or a large scoop of vanilla.

The Sugar Maple is the state tree of Vermont. It is world-renowned for its maple syrup industry, and many tourists go to see brilliant colors the trees become in the fall months.

Vermont has the most maple trees of all the New England states. More than 500,000 gallons of maple syrup are made there each year.

Sugar Maple in Autumn Vermont | by denisbin 

Witch windows, which exist mostly in Vermont, were created due to the belief that witches couldn't fly broomsticks through slanted windows.

In Vermont, USA, women require their husbands' permission to wear false teeth.