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...
Cochran's is a small but mighty ski area. The ski area was started in the 1960s by Mickey and Ginny Cochran. With a vertical drop of 350 feet, the ski area includes a t-bar, rope tow and base lodge. It's also where thousands of local children...
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...
Farmers, nature, the rural landscape and beloved artists are showcased at Vermont museums and galleries this winter. Here are three museums, two art centers and one dog chapel to visit this winter. -The Vermont Female Farmers exhibit at the Fleming Museum of Art at UVM features...
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...
On any digital or paper Vermont map, you can easily find Vermont's 252 cities and towns. But what you won't find as easily are lost Vermont town names like Vineyard or Mansfield. Vineyard is now Isle La Motte and Mansfield is now Stowe. Dig a little...
When it comes to Vermont fall foliage, Mike Snyder has a theory. "The great fall show begins with kind of a dull show," says Snyder, who served as Vermont's Commissioner of Forest Parks and Recreation for over a decade before leaving his post in 2022 to...
Traveling east on Route 118 along the Trout River is a nostalgic scene with covered bridges, barns and mountain views. After a few bends in the road, a clear view of the Montgomery Center for the Arts unfolds. The Greek Revival building was empty the first...
Stacy Harshman needed a change. While living in New York, she Googled words like "nature, mountains and community." The search brought her to Vermont, where she eventually opened The Sparkle Barn. The Sparkle Barn is a wildly popular gift shop on Route 7 in Wallingford, complete with an...
