Vermont has no shortage of offbeat place names. What is special about Vermont place names is that they come with a story—either a true one or a mix of myth, folklore and fact. Esther Monroe Swift wrote Vermont-Place Names: Footprints in History in 1977. She spent...
Imagine if Stratton lost its status as an official Vermont town. In the 1930s, the Vermont Legislature decided that towns with tiny populations, like Glastenbury and Somerset, would no longer be organized towns. Some wondered if Stratton would face the same fate. At the time, Stratton's...
If you've driven on dirt roads in the last week or so, it's clear that Vermont mud season has arrived. Mud season happens when temperatures rise above freezing and the snow starts to melt. The ground thaws on the surface but remains frozen deep underneath, preventing...
Vermont is home to about 185 libraries. Jessamyn West is on a quest to visit every single one. "Vermont is a very make-your-own-fun kind of place," says West, a library technologist from Randolph. She's visited about 68 Vermont libraries so far. "My rule is that you have...
Susan Leader makes pottery in a small shed at her home in Andover. In a field outside her doorstep is a view of Terrible Mountain. Terrible Mountain sits between Andover and Weston. Folklore surrounds the mountain's ominous name, and its mystique was likely heightened by the crash of...
It's hard to define Adamant. The unincorporated village, situated on the Calais and East Montpelier town line, consists of dirt roads, ponds, waterfalls and a small co-op grocery store with a post office. But where its border exactly starts and ends is tricky to pin down. Locals...
