The Vermont 251: Exploring The State One Town At A Time
Updated: Oct 21, 2023
The High Mowing Farm Bridge in Wilmington, Vermont
In September, 2021, a friend and I decided to explore all the towns in the state of Vermont. Now, in case you were not aware, there is a Vermont 251 Club, which lists all the (you guessed it!) 251 towns in this small state. (Actually, the Club decided just recently to include Essex Junction as a town, so the official count is now 252, but the Club is still using 251 in its name). We are using their list as the official town list for our explorations.
Our first big learning was that the 251 "official" towns not only don't match the towns on our (Rand McNally road) map, but they also do not include the boroughs and hamlets associated with many of the towns, making the actual number of towns we visit (unofficial though they may be) much greater in number than 251 (or 252). And when I say, "visit," I mean explore anything of note in each town (where often there is nothing).
Specifically, we are looking for the "Welcome" sign, ideally with the date the town was chartered/ founded/ incorporated/ established. Other signage indicating the town's name gets recorded should there be no town sign. (FYI, you can often tell a lot about a community based on their Welcome Sign -- like whether the town has a lot of pride (most do) or what they think you should see in the town (ie a church, a bridge, cows, etc). And, because Vermont is well-known for its covered bridges, we are trying to visit all the covered bridges while traversing this beautiful state.
Stay tuned for the blog posts covering our 251 progress. Hopefully you'll learn something and be inspired to come visit. There's no better place in this country, in my humble opinion -- but I love the cold, great cheese, maple everything (including the foliage the trees provide), craft beer, skiing, and walking amongst the natural beauty in this green mountain state. Oh, and I'm not a fan of the heat.
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