Vermont
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State flag
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VERMONT,
one of the New England states of the U.S., bordered on the
N by the Canadian province of Québec; on the E by New Hampshire;
on the S by Massachusetts; and on the W by New York. The W bank
of the Connecticut R. forms the E boundary, and part of the W boundary
runs through Lake Champlain.
Vermont entered the Union on March 4, 1791, as the 14th state.
(From 1777 to 1791, Vermont had been an independent republic.) Its
economy was chiefly agricultural until the 20th century, when manufacturing became
the leading sector. Tourism and other services are also important,
and the state is known for its many ski areas. Presidents Chester
A. Arthur and Calvin Coolidge were born in Vermont. The name of
the state is derived from the French words vert (“green”)
and mont (“mountain”), and Vermont
is known as the Green Mountain State.
| VERMONT STATE FACTS |
| DATE OF STATEHOOD: |
March 4, 1791; 14th state |
| CAPITAL: |
Montpelier |
| MOTTO: |
Freedom and unity |
| NICKNAME: |
Green Mountain State |
| STATE SONG: |
"These Green Mountains" |
| STATE TREE: |
Sugar maple |
| STATE FLOWER: |
Red clover |
| STATE BIRD: |
Hermit thrush |
| POPULATION (2000 census ): |
608,827; 49th among the states |
| AREA: |
24,903 sq km (9615 sq mi); 45th largest state; includes 947 sq km (366 sq mi) of inland water |
| HIGHEST POINT: |
Mt. Mansfield, 1339 m (4393 ft) |
| LOWEST POINT: |
29 m (95
ft), along the shore of Lake Champlain |
| ELECTORAL VOTES: |
3 |
| U.S. CONGRESS: |
2 senators; 1 representative |
| GOVERNOR: |
Jim Douglas (Rep.) Took office January 2003 |
Vermont, with an area of 24,903 sq km (9615 sq mi), is the
45th largest state in the U.S.; 6% of its land area is owned
by the federal government. The state is roughly rectangular in shape,
and its extreme dimensions are about 255 km (about 160 mi) from
N to S and about 135 km (about 85 mi) from E to W. Elevations range
from 29 m (95 ft), at Lake Champlain in the NW, to 1339 m (4393
ft), atop Mt. Mansfield in the N; the mean elevation is about 305
m (1000 ft).
Vermont is topographically the most diverse of the New England
states, and it is the only one without a seacoast. The state has
five distinct landform regions. In NE Vermont is the White Mts.
region, a high, wild, and rugged granite area closely related to
New Hampshire's adjacent White Mts. The average base elevation
is about 365 m (about 1200 ft), and isolated mountains, called monadnocks,
rise to more than 1006 m (3300 ft). The sparsely populated region
has a number of swift-flowing streams.
In E Vermont is the New England Upland, which extends S into
Massachusetts. It is mostly hilly land deeply cut by fast-flowing
streams. The upland is underlaid by complex metamorphic rocks, with
occasional granite mountains, such as Mt. Ascutney in Windsor and
Spruce Mt. in Groton, rising above the hilltops. Fertile lowlands
are in the E, along the Connecticut R.
The Green Mts. region of central Vermont is composed of a
complexly folded N to S mountain system. North of Rutland, the Green
Mts. consist of two roughly parallel ridges, and to the S, where
ancient rocks are exposed, the mountains almost form a flat plateau,
with streams such as the West and Deerfield rivers running through
deep valleys.
The Champlain Valley region, in the NW, is a relatively flat
area underlaid by sedimentary rocks, mainly sandstones and limestones.
Isolated summits, such as Snake Mt. in Addison, rise to more than
305 m (1000 ft). The general flatness, combined with soils that
are stone free and less acidic than in the rest of the state, makes
the region well suited for agriculture.
The Taconic Mts. region in SW Vermont is geologically complex.
The rocks are generally metamorphic and are associated with the
state's important slate and marble belts. The highest summit
is Mt. Equinox, towering above the town of Manchester, which lies
in the narrow Valley of Vermont; this valley is sometimes considered
a distinct region separating the Taconic Mts. and the Green Mts.
regions.
Like most of New England, Vermont is generally covered with
thin glacial till soils, typically acidic and relatively infertile.
In the Champlain Valley and some other smaller lowlands, however,
no longer extant glacial lakes have left clay sediments that provide
isolated pockets of better farmland. At the base of the Green Mts.
are some striking glacial deltas, the best examples being in South
Hinesburg and in Bristol.
About 40% of Vermont's waters drain into
the Connecticut R. and eventually reach Long Island Sound, and another
10% drain into the Hudson R. from a small area in the SW. Fully
half of the state's drainage is into Lake Champlain in
the NW. The Winooski and Lamoille rivers, which flow into Lake Champlain,
have cut deep valleys across the Green Mts. Otter Creek, the longest
river in Vermont, flows N across the Champlain Valley and also enters
Lake Champlain. Important streams draining into the Connecticut
R. are the White, West, Waits, Williams, Black, and Passumpsic.
Vermont has many lakes. The largest is Lake Champlain, which
extends into New York and Québec Province. The next biggest
is Lake Memphremagog, also partly in Québec. The largest
body of water entirely in Vermont is Bomoseen Lake, near Rutland.
Numerous lakes are in the NE.
Vermont has long winters and short summers. Differences between
winter and summer temperatures are greater in the state than in
most other parts of New England. Overall, the coldest temperatures
generally prevail in Vermont's mountains and in the NE,
and the warmest temperatures are recorded in the valleys. Saint
Johnsbury, in the NE, has an average January temperature of about –8.1˚ C (about
17.5˚ F) and an average July temperature of about 20.8˚ C
(about 69.5˚ F); Rutland, in the central part of the state,
has a mean January temperature of about –5.8˚ C
(about 21.5˚ F) and a mean July temperature of about 20.8˚ C
(about 69.5˚ F). The recorded temperature in Vermont has
ranged from –45.6˚ C (–50˚ F),
in 1933 at Bloomfield in the NE, to 40.6˚ C (105˚ F),
in 1911 at Vernon in the SE.
Annual precipitation in Vermont is about 1015 mm (about 40
in) and is fairly evenly distributed over the course of a year except
in the N and W, where more moisture is received in summer than in
winter. Almost all of Vermont receives much snowfall, with some
mountain areas getting up to 3175 mm (125 in) a year. Vermont is
rarely struck by hurricanes or tornadoes.
| VERMONT AVERAGE CLIMATE |
| |
Burlington |
| Average January temperature range |
–13.3° to –3.3° C |
8° to 26° F |
| Average July temperature range |
13.3° to 27.2° C |
56° to 81° F |
| Average annual temperature |
6.7° C |
44° F |
| Average annual precipitation |
838 mm |
33 in |
| Average annual snowfall |
2007 mm |
79 in |
| Mean number of days per year with appreciable precipitation |
153 |
| Average daily relative humidity |
70% |
| Mean number of clear days per year |
58 |
About three-quarters of Vermont is forestland, most of which
is dominated by hardwoods such as ash, beech, birch, hickory, maple,
and oak. Big softwood forests in the NE include pine and spruce.
Among the state's many wild flowers are anemone, arbutus,
gentian, orchid, rose, and violet.
The white-tailed deer is the most important large game animal
in Vermont. Moose and black bear are occasionally seen. Bobcat and
coyote are common, as are beaver, muskrat, otter, rabbit, squirrel,
woodchuck, and raccoon. Lake Champlain provides sportfishing for
salmon, lake trout, muskellunge, northern pike, walleye pike, and
perch. Brook, rainbow, and brown trout inhabit Vermont's
streams.
Important copper mining once took place in E Vermont, and iron
ore was mined in many scattered localities. Tin, silver, manganese,
gold, and other metals also have been produced over the years, but
in small quantities. Virtually no metals have been mined in Vermont
since the late 1950s. The state, however, has been a significant
producer of such nonmetallic minerals as asbestos, talc, marble,
granite, and slate.
According to the 2000 census, Vermont had 608,827 inhabitants,
an increase of 8.2% over 1990. The average population density
in 2000 was 65.8 people per sq mi of land area. Whites made up 96.8% of
the population and blacks 0.5%. Additional population groups
included 2420 American Indians, 5217 Asians, and 141 Native Hawaiian
and other Pacific Islanders. (These figures do not include the 1.2% of
the population who reported more than one race.) A total of 5,504
persons reported being of Hispanic background. The state's
largest communities were Burlington, Essex, Rutland, Colchester,
and South Burlington. Montpelier is the capital.
According to the 1990 census, Roman Catholics formed the largest
single religious group in the state (36.7%), followed by
Methodists (5.6%) and Baptists (5.3%). In 1990,
Vermont's population was, proportionately, more rural than
that of any other U.S. state; only about 32% of all residents
of Vermont lived in areas defined as urban, and the rest lived in
rural areas.
| POPULATION OF VERMONT SINCE 1790 |
| Year of Census |
Population |
Classified As Urban |
| 1790 |
85,000 |
0% |
| 1820 |
236,000 |
0% |
| 1850 |
314,000 |
2% |
| 1880 |
332,000 |
10% |
| 1900 |
344,000 |
22% |
| 1920 |
352,000 |
31% |
| 1940 |
359,000 |
34% |
| 1960 |
390,000 |
39% |
| 1980 |
511,000 |
34% |
| 1990 |
562,758 |
32% |
| 2000 |
608,827 |
-- |
| POPULATION OF TEN LARGEST COMMUNITIES IN VERMONT |
| |
2000 Census |
1990 Census |
| Burlington |
38,889 |
39,127 |
| Essex |
18,626 |
16,498 |
| Rutland |
17,292 |
18,230 |
| Colchester |
16,986 |
14,731 |
| South Burlington |
15,814 |
12,809 |
| Bennington |
15,737 |
16,451 |
| Brattleboro |
12,005 |
12,241 |
| Hartford |
10,367 |
9,404 |
| Milton |
9,479 |
8,404 |
| Barre |
9,291 |
9,482 |
Vermont has a comprehensive statewide educational system and
a number of notable cultural institutions and historical sites.
The state also offers a wide variety of opportunities for outdoor
recreation.
The Vermont constitution of 1777 provided for the establishment
of elementary schools in towns and for a grammar school in each
county. In 1823 the first teacher-training school in the U.S. was
founded at Concord. In the late 1980s Vermont had 336 public elementary
and secondary schools; total yearly enrollment was about 69,100
elementary pupils and 25,700 secondary students. About 6500 students
attended private schools. In the same period, Vermont had 22 institutions
of higher education with a combined enrollment of about 35,900 students.
Among these schools were Bennington College (1932), in Bennington;
Castleton State College (1787), in Castleton; Goddard College (1938),
in Plainfield; Green Mountain College (1834), in Poultney; Johnson
State College (1828), in Johnson; Lyndon State College (1911), in
Lyndonville; Marlboro College (1946), in Marlboro; Middlebury College (1800),
in Middlebury; Norwich University (1819), in Northfield; Saint Michael's
College (1904), in Colchester; the School for International Training
(1964), in Brattleboro; and the University of Vermont (1791), in
Burlington.
Many of Vermont's museums display American art and
the art and artifacts of the state's early settlers. Among
these are the Bennington Museum, in Bennington; the Sheldon Art
Museum, in Middlebury; the Robert Hull Fleming Museum, in Burlington;
the Vermont Historical Society Museum, in Montpelier; the Fairbanks
Museum and Planetarium, in Saint Johnsbury; and the Shelburne Museum,
a recreation of an early New England village with about 35 buildings,
in Shelburne. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is based in Burlington,
and the Marlboro Music Festival and the Vermont Mozart Festival (at
Burlington) present concerts in the summer.
Vermont contains a number of historic homes such as the birthplace of
President Chester A. Arthur, in Fairfield, and the birthplace of
President Calvin Coolidge, in Plymouth. Also of historical interest
are the Bennington Battle Monument, which commemorates the American
victory over the British at Bennington in 1777, and a monument,
near Sharon, marking the birthplace of the Mormon leader Joseph
Smith.
Vermont's mountains, parks, lakes, and rivers provide
fine conditions for hunting, fishing, boating, camping, hiking,
and golfing. Skiing is one of the state's most popular sports,
and Vermont has more than 25 ski areas.
In the early 1990s Vermont had 20 AM and 41 FM radiobroadcasting
stations and 7 television stations. The first radio station in the
state, WSYB in Rutland, began operations in 1930. WCAX-TV in Burlington,
Vermont's first commercial television station, went on
the air in 1948. The Vermont Gazette, the state's
first newspaper, was initially published in Westminster in the early
1780s. In the early 1990s Vermont had nine daily newspapers with
a combined daily circulation of about 149,800. They included the Burlington
Free Press and the Rutland Daily Herald.
Vermont is governed under a constitution adopted in 1793,
as amended. Two earlier constitutions had been adopted in 1777 and
1786. An amendment to the constitution may be proposed by the legislature;
to become effective it must be approved by a majority of the persons
voting on the issue in an election.
The chief executive of Vermont is a governor, who is popularly
elected to a 2-year term and who may be elected any number of times.
The same regulations apply to the lieutenant governor, who succeeds
the governor should the latter resign, die, or be removed from office.
Other elected officials include the secretary of state, attorney
general, treasurer, and auditor of accounts.
The bicameral Vermont legislature, called the General Assembly,
is made up of a senate and a house of representatives. The 30 members
of the senate and the 150 members of the house are elected to 2-year
terms.
Vermont's highest tribunal, the supreme court, is
composed of 5 justices; the state's major trial courts
are the superior courts and district courts, with a combined total
of 29 judges. Judges of these three courts are appointed by the
governor, with the consent of the senate, to 6-year terms and may
be elected to additional terms by the legislature.
In the early 1990s Vermont had 14 counties, 9 cities, and
237 organized towns. County government is mostly limited to judicial
matters. The cities use the mayor-council system. The towns have
an annual meeting in which all citizens may participate; three selectmen
elected by the town meeting run most communities on a day-to-day
basis.
Vermont elects two senators and one representative to the U.S.
Congress. The state has three electoral votes in presidential elections.
In presidential elections from the 1850s through the
1980s, Vermont was a stronghold of the Republican party; in 1992, 1996,
and 2000, however, the state voted for the Democratic presidential
nominee. In 1974, Vermont voters for the first time sent a Democrat,
Patrick J. Leahy (1940- ), to the U.S. Senate; he won reelection to a
fifth consecutive term in 1998 and is a leading member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee. Vermont's junior senator, James M. (Jim) Jeffords
(1934- ), was first elected to the Senate as a Republican in 1988; his
decision in 2001 to leave the party and become an independent tipped
the Senate balance in favor of the Democrats, until Republicans
regained control of the chamber in the November 2002 election. Bernard
Sanders (1941- ), an avowed socialist, has represented Vermont as an
independent in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1991.
Farming was the main economic activity until the 20th century,
when manufacturing took the lead. In the early 1990s the service
sector, especially tourism, dominated the economy, but manufacturing
and the dairy industry remained important.
| VERMONT STATE ECONOMY (early 1990s) |
| STATE BUDGET |
| General revenue |
$1.4 billion |
| General expenditure |
$1.5 billion |
| Accumulated debt |
$1.3 billion |
 |
| STATE AND LOCAL TAXES, PER CAPITA |
$2009 |
| PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA |
$13,527 |
| POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LEVEL |
9.9% |
| ASSETS, INSURED COMMERCIAL BANKS (27) |
$5.8 billion |
|
| LABOR FORCE (CIVILIAN NONFARM) |
261,000 |
| Employed in services |
26% |
| Employed in wholesale and retail trade |
24% |
| Employed in manufacturing |
18% |
| Employed in government |
16% |
|
| MAJOR INDUSTRIES |
% CONTRIBUTED TO GSP* |
| Commercial, financial, and professional services |
53% |
| Manufacturing and construction |
27% |
| Government |
10% |
| Transportation, communications, and public utilities |
7% |
| Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries |
3% |
| Mining |
less than 1% |
Gross State Product = total value of goods and services produced in a year.
Sources: U.S. government publications |
| PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS OF VERMONT (early 1990s) |
| |
Quantity Produced |
Value |
| FARM PRODUCTS |
|
$476 million |
|
| CROPS |
|
$78 million |
| Hay |
700,000 metric tons |
$69 million |
| Apples |
19,500 metric tons |
$9 million |
|
| LIVESTOCK AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS |
|
$398 million |
| Milk |
1.1 million metric tons |
$342 million |
| Cattle |
26,000 metric tons |
$53 million |
| Eggs |
3.1 million |
$3 million |
|
| MINERALS |
|
$89 million |
| Stone |
2.9 million metric tons |
$60 million |
| Sand, gravel |
6.3 million metric tons |
$20 million |
|
| |
|
Annual Payroll |
| MANUFACTURING |
|
$1.2 billion |
| Electronic equipment |
|
N/A |
| Industrial machinery and equipment |
|
$134 million |
| Printing and publishing |
|
$108 million |
| Fabricated metal products |
|
$102 million |
| Transportation equipment |
|
N/A |
| Food and kindred products |
|
$70 million |
| Lumber and wood products |
|
$60 million |
| Stone, clay, and glass products |
|
$59 million |
| Instruments and related products |
|
$54 million |
| Paper and allied products |
|
$51 million |
| Furniture and fixtures |
|
$42 million |
|
| OTHER |
|
$3.8 billion |
| Services |
|
$990 million |
| Government |
|
$959 million |
| Retail trade |
|
$576 million |
| Construction |
|
$347 million |
| Finance, insurance, and real estate |
|
$293 million |
| Wholesale trade |
|
$252 million |
| Transportation, communications, and public utilities |
|
$248 million |
| Sources: U.S. government publications |
Vermont's farming sector is comparatively small,
but it is an important part of the state economy. In the late 1980s
annual farm income was $476 million; some 84% derived
from sales of livestock and livestock products, and the remainder
came from crops. Vermont has some 6900 farms, with an average size
of 89 ha (219 acres). The most valuable agricultural commodity by
far is milk; also important are cattle, eggs, hay, apples, and maple
syrup. Farms are concentrated along the Connecticut R. in the E
part of the state and in the Champlain Valley in the NW.
Vermont has a relatively small but locally significant forestry
industry. The annual timber harvest is mostly used to make paper,
lumber, and furniture. Little income is generated by commercial
fishing operations in the state. The annual value of Vermont's
mineral output in the late 1980s was nearly $90 million.
Granite, quarried in the Barre region, and marble, produced mainly
in the Danby and Rutland areas, were the most valuable mineral products.
In addition, Vermont ranked among the leading U.S. producers of
asbestos, talc, and slate, and sand and gravel were quarried in
many parts of the state.
A leading sector of the Vermont economy is manufacturing.
In the late 1980s about 48,000 persons were employed by manufacturing
concerns. Principal products include electronic equipment, industrial
machinery, printed materials, fabricated metals, paper and paper
items, goods made of stone and wood, processed food, precision instruments,
and aerospace and other transportation equipment. Wood-burning stoves
are an important manufactured item. The Burlington area is Vermont's
chief industrial center; other manufacturing hubs include Bennington,
Brattleboro, Rutland, and Springfield.
About 7.9 million travelers a year visit Vermont, spending
more than $1.6 million; some 29,500 jobs in the state are
directly related to travel. The state has a variety of summer resorts and
winter-sports centers as well as travel facilities such as hotels
and motels and restaurants. Notable summer vacation centers include
the Lake Champlain area and the village of Woodstock. Among the
state's ski resorts are Big Bromley, Jay Peak, Killington,
Magic Mountain, Mount Snow, Stowe, Stratton, and Sugarbush. Vermont
maintains some 46 state parks. Green Mountain National Forest, in
the central and S parts of the state, is a popular outdoor recreation
area.
Vermont is well-served by transport facilities. The state
has about 22,725 km (about 14,120 mi) of roads, including 515 km
(320 mi) of interstate highways. Interstate Route 91 extends from
the Massachusetts border to Canada, and Interstate Route 89 is part
of a major roadway connecting Boston and Montréal. Rail
service in Vermont is provided mainly by small freight carriers.
Water transport is of relatively minor importance; Lake Champlain,
the chief waterway, is connected with the Hudson and Saint Lawrence
rivers. The state has 48 airports and 16 heliports. Vermont's
busiest air terminal serves Burlington.
In the early 1990s Vermont had an installed electricity generating
capacity of 1.1 million kw; output totaled 5 billion kwh. Almost
three-quarters of the electricity was generated in a nuclear power
plant at Vernon. Most of the rest was produced in hydroelectric
facilities on the Connecticut R.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Iroquoian tribes
of New York and the Algonquian tribes of New England fought for
possession of the Vermont area. The first European known to have
explored the region was the Frenchman Samuel de Champlain, who in
1609 reached the lake that was later named for him. In 1666 the
French built a fort on Isle La Motte in Lake Champlain. The first
British settlement was in the south at Fort Dummer, or Brattleboro
(1724). Two British colonies, New Hampshire and New York, claimed
jurisdiction over the Vermont area. Beginning in the 1740s, New
Hampshire Gov. Benning Wentworth (1696–1770) granted land
to settlers between the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain, but
New York disputed the legality of these grants. After the French
were expelled as a result of the French and Indian War (1754–63),
the New York-New Hampshire Rivalry intensified.
In the 1760s, a stream of settlers from Connecticut, Rhode
Island, and Massachusetts arrived, and New York began to issue its
own grants within the disputed territory, initiating ejectment suits
against the New Hampshire grantees in 1770. Among the newcomers
from Connecticut was Ethan Allen; he and his five brothers assumed
leadership in the drive to block New York's efforts at
ejectment. When legal means failed, the Allen brothers organized
an armed force called the Green Mountain Boys and began terrorizing
those farmers who accepted New York's jurisdiction.
The American Revolution, which broke out in 1775, brought
the two sides together against their common enemy, Great Britain.
Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, aided by Benedict Arnold, captured
Fort Ticonderoga and cleared the Lake Champlain region of British forces
months before American independence was declared. Two years later,
when a British army under Gen. John Burgoyne invaded the area, Vermonters
under Seth Warner fought them at the battles of Hubbardton and Bennington.
In 1777 the settlers adopted a separate constitution, and after
the war they formed an independent republic that lasted until 1791.
During this time Vermont coined its own money, established a viable
governmental structure, and considered the possibility of uniting
with Canada. When New York relinquished its claims to the New Hampshire
Grants, however, Vermont applied for statehood and was admitted
to the Union in 1791.
Vermont experienced a population boom from the 1790s through
the 1820s. Thereafter, scarcity of land, a turning to pasturage
for sheep and dairy herds, soil misuse, and a shortage of manufacturing
jobs impelled Vermonters to leave the state in significant numbers
for the fertile and newly available lands of western New York, the
Ohio Valley, and the trans-Mississippi region. Some economic aid
came with the railroads, which created depot towns and new opportunities,
but this was offset by a lack of manufacturing facilities and a
tendency to concentrate on agriculture as the state's economic
mainstay. Marble and granite quarrying, specialized machine-tool
industries, and the development of a tourist industry became important
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Steadfastly independent, Vermont was one of only two
states in the U.S. to vote against President Franklin D. Roosevelt in
1936. Vermonters beat back a federal proposal to build the Green
Mountain Parkway in the 1930s, and they abhorred the McCarthyism of the
1950s. Vermont was a Republican bastion from 1860 to 1959, after which
the Democrats began to play a role in state politics; this Democratic
trend has been augmented by an influx of newcomers from New York and
Massachusetts. In 1985, for the first time ever, Democrats took control
of both houses of the state legislature, and the Swiss-born Madeleine
Kunin (1933- ), also a Democrat, was sworn in as Vermont's first woman
governor; she was reelected in 1986 and 1988.
Although the state has retained much of its rural
character, smaller hill farms have been replaced by summer home sites
since World War II. The state has revamped its economy, attracting
tourism and high-technology industries and developing such well-known
firms as Ben & Jerry's, an ice cream manufacturer purchased by
Unilever in April 2000. That same month, Vermont became the first state
in the U.S. to grant full legal recognition to "civil unions" between
homosexual couples. The state's dominant political figure throughout
the 1990s was Governor Howard Dean (1948- ), a Democrat who was trained
as a physician. He assumed office in August 1991, following the death
of Governor Richard A. Snelling (1927-91), a Republican, and was
subsequently elected to five 2-year terms. After Dean declined to run
for a sixth term, in order to seek the Democratic presidential
nomination in 2004, the election of Jim Douglas (1951- ) in November
2002 returned the governorship to Republican control.