Cumulative Official Town Count | Unofficial Town Count |
177 | 40 |
In my quest to visit all 251 towns in the state of Vermont, I have ventured near and far, and this edition of my quest brings you to the towns furthest from "civilization." Specifically, the following small towns in VT's Northeast Kingdom (NEK) offer up beautiful scenery, a covered bridge, a former hippie commune, some great maple, the 45th parallel (latitude half way between the equator and the north pole), and a library/ stagecoach stop, and populations under 1,000 people: MORGAN, HOLLAND, NORTON, AVERILL, CANAAN, LEMINGTON, BLOOMFIELD, & BRUNSWICK. Given the remoteness of the area, I offer you this virtual tour of the area.
MORGAN
Morgan, VT is a very small town (pop. 638 in 2020) with really only one attraction: Lake Seymour. It was chartered by the Republic of Vermont on November 6, 1780 under the name of Caldersburgh, but the town name was changed to Morgan in 1801 and it is described on the town website "as a region of unsurpassed beauty, with fertile soil and a climate that is healthful and invigorating." Yep, it's pretty cold in this area of Vermont in winter.
HOLLAND
Holland, VT is a small (pop. 632 in 2020) farming town which hugs the Canadian border. It was chartered in 1789 and other than exploring the back roads for its stupendous views, there really isn't much to see there -- no commerce that I saw other than farms and farm stands. I can say, though, that Holland may well have the friendliest town clerk in the state!
NORTON
Norton, VT is a very small town of roughly 150 (in 220) on the 45th Parallel which borders Canada. There's not much commerce in town, and I suspect the border crossing is responsible for the majority of traffic this town sees. Interestingly, Norton is home to Black Turn Brook State Forest, formerly known as Earth People’s Park, which, from 1970 to 1994, was a somewhat hippie 592-acre utopia open free of charge to anyone who wanted to live there. According to Wikipedia, "Purchase of the [land] was inspired by the People's Park in Berkeley, CA, with some donations for the down payment raised at the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Festival in NY. The Vermont parcel was purchased and managed as a non-profit trust (Earth Peoples Park Inc.), with the land deed officially recorded so as to convey the trusts' "ownership" of the land (the only real asset of the trust), to "all of the peoples of the earth"". Further, according to Wiki, it was estimated that there were 25 year-round residents living in the area between 1973-75 in shelters such as tee-pees, school buses, and an eight-sided log cabin.
AVERILL
Averill, VT is one of the five unincorporated towns in Vermont. The town had a population of 21 in 2020 and while it was chartered in 1762, it was never formally incorporated because it never had a large enough permanent population. (The town’s population reached its peak of 48 in 1880 after a sawmill was built in the neighboring town of Norton). There is no town to speak of, but there are two ponds in town which attract visitors/ second home owners -- Great and Small Averill Ponds. The town is known for its large moose population (and hunting/ fishing).
CANAAN
Canaan, VT is located in the literal northeast corner of Vermont, bordering both Canada and New Hampshire, and to be honest, I didn't expect much of this town of 896 (in 2020). However, the town is pleasant and there is commerce, which includes (slightly out of town), April's Maple, an historic library/ historical society, and a lovely town green just in front of the library/ historical society. April's Maple is heaven on earth for maple lovers, and their maple creemee milkshake is sublime -- they add syrup to the bottom and top of the milkshake just to amp up the maple. Its 170-year old library was the next-to-last stagecoach stop on a route from Franklin, NH to Montreal, Canada. Also, there is a town Moose Festival the weekend before Labor Day each year; how fun! Canaan is a town that, despite its remote location, I can imagine visiting again -- maybe the weekend before Labor Day for the moose festival -- any takers?!
LEMINGTON
Lemington, VT is yet another tiny town with no commerce (the population was just 87 in 2020). It borders New Hampshire, and the lovely Columbia Covered Bridge gets you there (over the Connecticut River). Its historic town hall, showing that the town was chartered in 1762, is lovely, but the town offices just adjacent to it, are more indicative of the town today...
BLOOMFIELD
Bloomfield, VT is another very small town (of 217 in 2020), just across the CT River from New Hampshire. The town was chartered in 1762 as Minehead, but the name was changed to Bloomfield in 1830. The only settlement in the town is where the Debanvilles General Store is located (not open every day), across the road from a building with the town's welcome sign. The town is home to the Stone Dam Boardwalk (just a wooden platform on the side of the road), and to the lovely Black Branch Boardwalk, accessed by entering the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and driving on a rough dirt road. Within the Wildlife Refuge are camping sites/ private camps (cabins). This is highly forested and remote wilderness, and it is beautiful.
BRUNSWICK
Brunswick, VT is home to the Visitor's Center for the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. The Center is open even when unmanned, and there you can find facilities and interesting information (think: school trip-type info) on the Nulhegan River Basin and the history, flora, and fauna associated with it. This is a tiny town (pop. 88 in 2020), with no commerce or visible services (other than the town offices and the visitor center. Chartered in 1761 to 64 settlers, the town encompasses Brunswick Springs, which was home to six mineral springs in the 19th century, making it then a popular resort. That land is now owned by the Abenaki people (a tribe of Native American and First Nations people), and I was unable to find it.
Stay tuned -- there's much more of the state and the NEK to see!
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