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05-11-2007, 09:15 PM
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would you like to go Vermont?
Vermont is my next favorite state next to hawaii here are some facts:
Capital: Montpelier Largest city: Burlington Area Ranked: 45th - Total 9,620 sq mi (24,923 km²) - Width: 80 miles (130 km) - Length: 160 miles (260 km) - % water 3.8 - Latitude: 42°44'N to 45°0'43"N - Longitude: 71°28'W to 73°26'W Population Ranked 49th - Total (2000) 608,827 - Density 65.8/sq mi 25.41/km² (30th) - Median income $48,508 (19th) Elevation - Highest point Mount Mansfield[1] 4,393 ft (1,340 m) - Mean 1,000 ft (300 m) - Lowest point Lake Champlain[1] 95 ft (29 m) Admission to Union March 4, 1791 (14th) Governor Jim Douglas (R) U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D) Bernie Sanders (I) Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4 (DST) Abbreviations US-VT Geography Vermont is located in the New England region in the eastern United States and comprises 9,614 square miles (24,902 km²), making it the 45th largest state. Of this, land comprises 9,250 square miles (23,955 km²) and water comprises 365 square miles (948 km²), making it the 43rd largest in land area and the 47th in water area. The west bank of the Connecticut River marks the eastern border of the state with New Hampshire (the river itself is part of New Hampshire). Lake Champlain, the major lake in Vermont, is the sixth-largest body of fresh water in the United States and separates Vermont from New York in the northwest portion of the state. From north to south, Vermont is 159 miles (256 km). Its greatest width, from east to west, is 89 miles (143 km) at the Canadian border; the narrowest width is 37 miles (60 km) at the Massachusetts line. The state's geographic center is Washington, three miles (5 km) east of Roxbury. There are six distinct physiographic regions of Vermont. Categorized by geological and physical attributes, they are the Northeastern Highlands, the Green Mountains, the Taconic Mountains, the Champlain Lowlands, the Valley of Vermont and the Vermont Piedmont. The origin of the name Green Mountains (French: Verts monts) is uncertain. Some authorities say that they are so named because they have much more forestation than the higher White Mountains of New Hampshire and Adirondacks of New York. Other authorities say that they are so named because of the predominance of mica-quartz-chlorite schist, a green-hued metamorphosed shale. The range forms a north-south spine running most of the length of the state, slightly west of its center. In the southwest portion of the state are the Taconic Mountains; the Granitic Mountains are in the northeast.[4] In the northwest near Lake Champlain is the fertile Champlain Valley. In the south of the valley is Lake Bomoseen. Several mountains have timberlines: Mount Mansfield, the highest mountain in the state, as well as Killington are examples. About 77 percent of the state is covered by forest; the rest is covered in meadow, uplands, lakes, ponds and swampy wetlands. Areas in Vermont administered by the National Park Service include the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock. Cities in Vermont cities (2003 estimated population): Burlington - 39,148 Rutland - 17,103 South Burlington - 16,285 Barre - 9,166 Montpelier - 7,945 St. Albans - 7,565 Newport - 5, 092 Vergennes - 2,789 Largest towns in Vermont Although these towns are large enough to be considered cities, they are not incorporated as such. Largest Towns (2003 est.) Essex, 18,933 Colchester, 17,175 Bennington, 15,637 Brattleboro, 11,996 Hartford, 10,610 Milton, 9,924 Climate Vermont has a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfb), with warm, humid summers and cold winters, which become colder at higher elevations. Vermont is known for its mud season in spring followed by a generally mild early summer, hot Augusts and a colorful autumn, and particularly for its cold winters. The northern part of the state, including the rural northeastern section (dubbed the "Northeast Kingdom") is known for exceptionally cold winters, often averaging 10 °F (6 °C) colder than the southern areas of the state. Annual snowfall averages between 60 to 100 inches (150–250 cm) depending on elevation, giving Vermont some of New England's best cross-country and downhill ski areas. In the autumn, Vermont's hills experience an explosion of red, orange and gold foliage displayed on the sugar maple as cold weather approaches. This famous display of color that occurs so abundantly in Vermont is not due so much to the presence of a particular variant of the sugar maple; rather it is caused by a number of soil and climate conditions unique to the area. The highest-recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C), at Vernon on July 4, 1911; the lowest-recorded temperature was -50 °F (-46 °C), at Bloomfield on December 30, 1933. History Prehistory and Precolumbian Vermont was covered with shallow seas periodically from the Cambrian to Devonian periods. Most of the sedimentary rocks laid down in these seas were deformed by mountain-building. Fossils, however, are common in the Lake Champlain region. Lower areas of western Vermont were flooded again, as part of the St. Lawrence Valley "Champlain Sea" at the end of the last ice age, when the land had not yet rebounded from the weight of the glaciers. Shells of salt-water mollusks, along with the bones of beluga whales, have been found in the Lake Champlain region. Little is known of the pre-Columbian history of Vermont. The western part of the state was originally home to a small population of Algonquian-speaking tribes, including the Mohican and Abenaki peoples. Between 8500 to 7000 BC, at the time of the Champlain Sea, Native Americans inhabited and hunted in Vermont. From 8th century BC to 1000 BC was the Archaic Period. During the era, Native Americans migrated year-round. From 1000 BC to AD 1600 was the Woodland Period, when villages and trade networks were established, and ceramic and bow and arrow technology was developed. Sometime between 1500 and 1600, the Iroquois drove many of the smaller native tribes out of Vermont, later using the area as a hunting ground and warring with the remaining Abenaki. The population in 1500 is estimated to be around 10,000 people. The first European to see Vermont is thought to be Jacques Cartier, in 1535. On July 30, 1609, French explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed the area of what is now Lake Champlain, giving to the mountains the appellation of les Vert Monts (the Green Mountains). Colonial France claimed Vermont as part of New France, and erected Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte in 1666 as part of the fortification of Lake Champlain. This was the first European settlement in Vermont and the site of the first Roman Catholic Mass. During the latter half of the 17th century, non-French settlers began to explore Vermont and its surrounding area. In 1690, a group of Dutch-British settlers from Albany under Captain Jacobus de Warm established the De Warm Stockade at Chimney Point (eight miles or 13 km west of present-day Addison). This settlement and trading post was directly across Lake Champlain from Crown Point, New York (Pointe à la Chevelure). In 1731, more French settlers arrived. They constructed a small temporary wooden stockade (Fort de Pieux) on what was Chimney Point until work on Fort St. Frédéric began in 1734. The fort, when completed, gave the French control of the New France/Vermont border region in the Lake Champlain Valley and was the only permanent fort in the area until the building of Fort Carillon more than 20 years later. The government encouraged French colonization, leading to the development of small French settlements in the valley. The British attempted to take the Fort St. Frédéric four times between 1755 and 1758; in 1759, a combined force of 12,000 British regular and provincial troops under Sir Jeffrey Amherst captured the fort. The French were driven out of the area and retreated to other forts along the Richelieu River. One year later a group of Mohawks burnt the settlement to the ground, leaving only chimneys, which gave the area its name. The first permanent British settlement was established in 1724, with the construction of Fort Dummer in Vermont's far southeast under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight. This fort protected the nearby settlements of Dummerston and Brattleboro. These settlements were made by the Province of Massachusetts Bay to protect its settlers on the western border along the Connecticut River. The second British settlement was the 1761 founding of Bennington in the southwest. During the French and Indian War, some Vermont settlers, including Ethan Allen, joined the colonial militia assisting the British in attacks on the French. Fort Carillon on the New York-Vermont border, a French fort constructed in 1755, was the site of two British offensives under Lord Amherst's command: the unsuccessful British attack in 1758 and the retaking of the following year with no major resistance (most of the garrison had been removed to defend Quebec, Montreal, and the western forts). The British renamed the fort Fort Ticonderoga (which became the site of two later battles during the American Revolutionary War). Following France's loss in the French and Indian War, the 1763 Treaty of Paris gave control of the land to the British. The end of the war brought new settlers to Vermont. A fort at Crown Point had been built, and the Crown Point Military Road stretched from the east to the west of the Vermont wilderness from Springfield to Chimney Point, making travel from the neighboring British colonies easier. Three colonies laid claim to the area. The Province of Massachusetts Bay claimed the land on the basis of the 1629 charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Province of New York claimed Vermont based on land granted to the Duke of York (later King James II) in 1664. The Province of New Hampshire also claimed Vermont based upon a decree of George II in 1740. In 1741, George II ruled that Massachusetts's claims in Vermont and New Hampshire were invalid and fixed Massachusetts's northern boundary at its present location. This still left New Hampshire and New York with conflicting claims to the land. The situation resulted in the New Hampshire Grants, a series of 135 land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by New Hampshire's colonial governor, Benning Wentworth. The grants sparked a dispute with the New York governor, who began granting charters of his own for New Yorker settlement in Vermont. In 1770, Ethan Allen—along with his brothers Ira and Levi, as well as Seth Warner—recruited an informal militia, the Green Mountain Boys, to protect the interests of the original New Hampshire settlers against the new migrants from New York. When a New York judge arrived in Westminster with New York settlers in March 1775, violence broke out as angry citizens took over the courthouse and called a sheriff's posse. This resulted in the deaths of Daniel Houghton and William French in the "Westminster Massacre." Independence, the Vermont Republic, and Statehood On January 18, 1777, representatives of the New Hampshire Grants convened in Westminster and declared the independence of the Vermont Republic.[5] For the first six months of the republic's existence, the republic was called New Connecticut. On June 2, a second convention of 72 delegates met at Westminster, known as the "Westminster Convention." At this meeting, the delegates adopted the name "Vermont" on the suggestion of Dr. Thomas Young of Philadelphia, a supporter of the delegates who wrote a letter advising them on how to achieve admission into the newly independent United States as the 14th state. The delegates set the time for a meeting one month later. On July 4, the Constitution of the Vermont Republic was drafted during a violent thunderstorm at the Windsor Tavern owned by Elijah West and was adopted by the delegates on July 8 after four days of debate. This was among the first written constitutions in North America and was indisputably the first to abolish the institution of slavery, provide for universal manhood suffrage and require support of public schools. The Windsor tavern has been preserved as the Old Constitution House, administered as a state historic site. The Battle of Bennington, fought on August 16, 1777, was a seminal event in the history of the state of Vermont. The nascent republican government, created after years of political turmoil, faced challenges from New York, New Hampshire, Great Britain and the new United States, none of which recognized its sovereignty. The republic's ability to defeat a powerful military invader gave it a legitimacy among its scattered frontier society that would sustain it through fourteen years of fragile independence before it finally achieved statehood as the 14th state in the union in 1791. During the summer of 1777, the invading British army of General John Burgoyne slashed southward from Canada to the Hudson River, captured the strategic stronghold of Fort Ticonderoga, and drove the Continental Army into a desperate southward retreat. Raiding parties of British soldiers and native warriors freely attacked, pillaged and burned the frontier communities of the Champlain Valley and threatened all settlements to the south. The Vermont frontier collapsed in the face of the British invasion. The New Hampshire legislature, fearing an invasion from the east, mobilized the state's militia under the command of General John Stark. General Burgoyne received intelligence that large stores of horses, food and munitions were kept at Bennington, which was the largest community in the land grant area. He dispatched 2,600 men, nearly a third of his army, to seize the colonial storehouse there, unaware that General Stark's New Hampshire troops were then traversing the Green Mountains to join up at Bennington with the Vermont continental regiments commanded by Colonel Seth Warner, together with the local Vermont and western Massachusetts militia. The combined American forces, under Stark's command, attacked the British column at Hoosick, New York, just across the border from Bennington. General Stark reportedly challenged his men to fight to the death, telling them that: "There are your enemies. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" In a desperate, all-day battle fought in intense summer heat, the army of yankee farmers killed or captured virtually the entire British detachment. General Burgoyne never recovered from this loss and eventually surrendered the remainder of his 6,000-man force at Saratoga, New York, on October 17. The Battles of Bennington and Saratoga are recognized as the turning point in the Revolutionary War because they were the first major defeat of a British army and convinced the French that the Americans were worthy of military aid. Stark became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington", and the anniversary of the battle is still celebrated in Vermont as a legal holiday known as "Bennington Battle Day." Under the portico of the Vermont Statehouse, next to an heroic granite statue of Ethan Allen, there is a brass cannon that was captured from the British troops at the Battle of Bennington. Vermont continued to govern itself as a sovereign entity based in the eastern town of Windsor for fourteen years. The Vermont Republic issued its own currency, coins and operated a statewide postal service. Thomas Chittenden, who came to Vermont from Connecticut in 1774, acted as head of state, using the term governor over president. Chittenden governed the nascent republic from 1778 to 1789 and from 1790 to 1791. Chittenden exchanged ambassadors with France, the Netherlands, and the American government then at Philadelphia. In 1791, Vermont joined the federal Union as the fourteenth state–the first state to enter the union after the original thirteen colonies, and a counterweight to slave holding Kentucky, which was admitted to the Union shortly afterward. Vermont had a unicameral legislature until 1836. An 1854 Vermont Senate report on slavery echoed the Vermont Constitution's first article, on the rights of all men, questioning how a government could favor the rights of one people over another. The report fueled growth of the abolition movement in the state, and in response, a resolution from the Georgia General Assembly authorizing the towing of Vermont out to sea. The mid to late 1850s saw a transition from Vermonters mostly favoring slavery's containment, to a far more serious opposition to the institution, producing the Radical Republican and abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. As the Whig party shriveled, and the Republican Party emerged, Vermont strongly trended in support of its candidates, first on the state level and later for the presidency. In 1860 it voted for President Lincoln, giving him the largest margin of victory of any state. This strong lean toward the Republican Party has continued until very recently as evidenced by only electing 2 senators from other parties since the civil war (Patrick Leahy from the Democratic Pary and Bernard Sanders, an independent). The Civil War During the American Civil War, Vermont sent more than 34,000 men into United States service, contributing 18 regiments of infantry and cavalry, 3 batteries of light artillery, 3 companies of sharpshooters, 2 companies of frontier cavalry, and thousands in the regular army and navy, and in other states’ units. Almost 5,200 Vermonters were killed or mortally wounded in action or died of disease. Vermonters, if not Vermont units, participated in every major battle of the war. Among the most famous of the Vermont units were the 1st Vermont Brigade, the 2nd Vermont Brigade, and the 1st Vermont Cavalry. A large proportion of Vermont’s state and national-level politicians for several decades after the Civil War were veterans. The northernmost land action of the war, the St. Albans Raid, took place in Vermont. Postbellum era and beyond The two decades following the end of the American Civil War (1864-1885) saw both economic expansion and contraction, and fairly dramatic social change. Vermont's system of railroads expanded and were linked to national systems, agricultural output and export soared and incomes increased. But Vermont also felt the effects of recessions and financial panics, particularly the 1873 Panic which resulted in a substantial exodus of young Vermonters. The transition in thinking about the rights of citizens, first brought to a head by the 1854 Vermont Senate report on slavery, and later Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in changing how citizens perceived civil rights, fueled agitation for women's suffrage. The first election in which women were allowed to vote was on December 18, 1880, when women were granted limited suffrage and were first allowed to vote in town elections, and then in state legislative races. Large-scale flooding occurred in early November 1927. During this incident, 85 people died, 84 of them in Vermont. Another flood occurred in 1973, when the flood caused the death of two people and millions of dollars in property damage. On April 25, 2000, as a result of the Vermont Supreme Court's decision in Baker v. Vermont, the Vermont General Assembly passed and Governor Howard Dean signed into law H.0847, which provided the state sanctioned benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples in the form of civil unions. Controversy over the civil unions bill was a central issue in the subsequent 2000 elections. Demographics Population According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2005, Vermont has an estimated population of 623,050 which is an increase of 1,817, or 0.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 14,223, or 2.3%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 7,148 people (that is 33,606 births minus 26,458 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 7,889 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 4,359 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 3,530 people.  Historical populations Census Pop. %± 1790 85,425 – 1800 154,465 80.8% 1810 217,895 41.1% 1820 235,981 8.3% 1830 280,652 18.9% 1840 291,948 4.0% 1850 314,120 7.6% 1860 315,098 0.3% 1870 330,551 4.9% 1880 332,286 0.5% 1890 332,422 0.0% 1900 343,641 3.4% 1910 355,956 3.6% 1920 352,428 -1.0% 1930 359,611 2.0% 1940 359,231 -0.1% 1950 377,747 5.2% 1960 389,881 3.2% 1970 444,330 14.0% 1980 511,456 15.1% 1990 562,758 10.0% 2000 608,827 8.2% Economy According to the 2005 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, Vermont’s gross state product (GSP) was $23 billion. This places the state 50th among the 50 states. It stood 38th in per capita GSP. The per capita personal income was $32,770 in 2004. Components of GSP were: Government - $3,083 million (13.4%) Real Estate, Rental and Leasing - $2,667 million (11.6%) Durable goods manufacturing - $2,210 million (9.6%) Health Care and Social Assistance - $2,170 million (9.4%) Retail trade - $1,934 million (8.4%) Finance and Insurance - $1,369 million (5.9%) Professional and technical services - $1,276 million (5.5%) Construction - $1,258 million (5.5%) Wholesale trade - $1,175 million (5.1%) Accommodations and Food Services - $1,035 million (4.5%) Information - $958 million (4.2%) Non-durable goods manufacturing - $711 million (3.1%) Other Services - $563 million (2.4%) Utilities - $553 million (2.4%) Transportation and Warehousing - $484 million (2.1%) Educational Services - $478 million (2.1%) Administrative and Waste Services - $436 million (1.9%) Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting - $375 million (1.6%) Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation - $194 million (.8%) Mining - $100 million (.4%) Management of Companies - $35 million (.2%) Agriculture Agriculture Agriculture contributes $2.6 billion, about 12%, directly and indirectly to the states economy. Over the past two centuries, Vermont has had both population explosions and population busts. First settled by farmers, loggers and hunters, Vermont lost much of its population as farmers moved west into the Great Plains in search of abundant, easily tilled land. Logging similarly fell off as over-cutting and the exploitation of other forests made Vermont's forest less attractive. Although these population shifts devastated Vermont's economy, the early loss of population had the beneficial effect of allowing Vermont's land and forest to recover. The accompanying lack of industry has allowed Vermont to avoid many of the ill-effects of 20th century industrial busts, effects that still plague neighboring states. Today, most of Vermont's forests consist of second-growth. Of the remaining industries, dairy farming is the primary source of agricultural income. In recent years, Vermont has been deluged with plans to build condos and houses on what was relatively inexpensive, untouched land. Vermont's government has responded with a series of laws controlling development and with some pioneering initiatives to prevent the loss of Vermont's dairy industry. In 1947 there were 11,206 dairy farms in the state. In 2003 there are fewer than 1,500, a decline of 80%. The number of cattle had declined by 40%. However, milk production had doubled in the same period due to tripling the production per cow. An important and growing part of Vermont's economy is the manufacture and sale of artisan foods, fancy foods, and novelty items trading in part upon the Vermont "brand" which the state manages and defends. Examples of these specialty exports include Cabot Cheese, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Fine Paints of Europe, Vermont Butter and Cheese Company, several micro breweries, ginseng growers, Burton Snowboards, Lake Champlain Chocolates, King Arthur Flour, and Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. Vermont's Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets maintains the highest dairy standards in the U.S.[citation needed] Only France's Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fishing and Rural Affairs (see Minister of Agriculture (France)) has standards for butterfat content equal to Vermont's. In 2001, Vermont produced 275,000 US gallons (1,040,000 L) of maple syrup, about one-quarter of U.S. production. For 2005 that number was 410,000 accounting for 37% of national production. The Vermont Department of Agriculture maintains a rating standard for maple syrup that is higher than the U.S. Department of Agriculture's, all other states, and Canada. In 2000, only 3% of the state's working population was still engaged in agriculture. Manufacturing IBM, in Essex Junction, is Vermont's largest for-profit employer. It provides 25% of all manufacturing jobs in Vermont. It is responsible for $1 billion of the state's annual economy. Housing Vermont is the 17th highest state in the nation for mortgage affordability. However, in 41 other states, inhabitants contributed within plus or minus 4% of Vermont's 18.4% of household income to a mortgage. Labor As of 2006, there were 305,000 workers in Vermont. 11% of these are unionized. A 2007 survey claimed that Vermonters were the least satisfied with their job in the whole nation and were the most likely to be making plans to leave. Insurance Captive insurance plays an increasingly large role in Vermont's economy. With this form of alternative insurance, large corporations or industry associations form standalone insurance companies to insure their own risks, thereby substantially reducing their insurance premiums and gaining a significant measure of control over types of risks to be covered. There are also significant tax advantages to be gained from the formation and operation of captive insurance companies. According to the Insurance Information Institute, Vermont in 2004 was the world's third-largest domicile for captive insurance companies, following Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Tourism Tourism is the state's largest industry. In winter, the ski resorts Stowe, Killington Ski Resort, Mad River Glen, Sugarbush, Stratton, Jay Peak, Okemo, Mount Snow and Bromley draw skiers from around the globe, although their largest markets are Boston, Montreal and the New York metropolitan area. In the summer, resort towns like Stowe, Manchester, and Woodstock draw visitors looking for a mountain vacation. Resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions employ many people year-round. Numerous summer camps contribute to Vermont's economy. Trout fishing, lake fishing, and ice fishing draw outdoor enthusiasts to the state, as does the excellent hiking on the Long Trail. Several noteworthy horse shows are annual events. Vermont's state parks, historic sites, museums, golf courses, and new boutique hotels with spas also attract tourists. Tourism contributes $4.1 billion to the state's economy or 27% of the gross state product. This is the highest percentage in the country. Quarrying The towns of Rutland and Barre are the traditional centers of marble and granite quarrying and carving in the U.S. For many years Vermont was also the headquarters of the smallest union in the U.S., the Stonecutters Association, of about 500 members. Up the western side of the state runs the "Marble Valley" joining up with the "Slate Valley" that runs from just inside New York across from Chimney Point till it meets the "Granite Valley" that runs south past Rutland, home of the Rock of Ages quarry, the largest granite quarry in America. Vermont is the largest producer of slate in the country. Production of dimension stone is the greatest producer of revenues by quarrying. Taxes Vermont stands 14th highest out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for state and local taxation, with a per capita load of $3,681. The national average is $3,447.[24] However, CNNMoney ranked Vermont highest in the nation based on the percentage of per capita income. The rankings showed Vermont had a per capita tax load of $5,387, 14.1% of the per capita income of $38,306.[25] Vermont collects personal income tax in a progressive structure of five different income brackets, ranging from 3.6% to 9.5%. Vermont's general sales tax rate is 6%, which is imposed on sales of tangible personal property, amusement charges, fabrication charges, some public utility charges and some service contracts (some towns impose an additional 1% Local Option Tax). There are 46 exemptions from the tax which include medical items, food, manufacturing machinery, equipment and fuel, residential fuel and electricity, clothing, and shoes with a purchase price of $110 or less. A use tax is imposed on the buyer at the same rate as the sales tax. The buyer pays the use tax when the sellers fails to collect the sales tax or the items are purchased from a source where no tax is collected. The use tax applies to items taxable under the sales tax. Property taxes are imposed for the support of education and municipal services. Vermont does not assess tax on intangible personal property. Vermont does not collect inheritance taxes; however, its estate tax is decoupled from the federal estate tax laws and therefore the state still imposes its own estate tax. Transportation Vermont's main mode of travel is by automobile. Individual communities and counties have public transit, but their breadth of coverage is frequently limited. Greyhound Lines services a number of small towns. Two Amtrak trains serve Vermont. The Ethan Allen Express serves Rutland and Fair Haven, while the Vermonter serves Saint Albans, Essex Junction, Waterbury, Montpelier, Randolph, White River Junction, Windsor, Bellows Falls and Brattleboro. For a more detailed explanation see a List of Routes in Vermont Major Routes Interstate 89 Interstate 91 Interstate 93 U.S. Route 2 U.S. Route 4 U.S. Route 5 U.S. Route 7 Airports Vermont is served by two commercial airports: Burlington International Airport is the largest in the state, with regular flights to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia, Plattsburgh, New York, and Washington, DC. Rutland State Airport has regular flights to Albany and Boston. Local community public and private transportation Addison County has the ACTR (Addison County Transit Resources) out of Middlebury, also serving Bristol and Vergennes. Bennington County features the GME (American Red Cross Green Mountain Express) out of Bennington and the YT (Yankee Trails) running out of Rensselaer, New York. The RCT (Rural Community Transportation) runs out of Saint Johnsbury and services Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille and Orleans Counties. Burlington (home of the University of Vermont) has CCTA (Chittenden County Transportation Authority) and CATS (University of Vermont Campus Area Transportation System). Colchester in Chittenden County is serviced by the SSTA (Special Services Transportation Agency). The Network (Northwest Vermont Public Transit Network, NVPT) running out of Saint Albans, services Franklin and Grand Isle Counties. Stowe, in Lamoille county, is serviced by STS (Stowe Trolley System, Village Mountain Shuttle, Morrisville Shuttle). STS (Stagecoach Transportation Services) out of Randolph in Orange County also serves parts of Windsor County. Rutland County has the Bus (Marble Valley Regional Transit District, MVRTD) out of Rutland. In Washington county the GMTA (Green Mountain Transit Authority) runs out of the capital city, Montpelier. Brattleboro in Windham county is served by the BeeLine (Brattleboro Town Bus). Windham is served, out of West Dover, by the MOOver (Deerfield Valley Transit Association, DVTA). Ludlow (in Windsor County) is served by the LMTS (Ludlow Municipal Transit System). Windsor is also served by Advanced Transit (AT) out of Wilder and the CRT (Connecticut River Transit) out of Springfield, which also serves parts of Windham County. There is ferry service to New York State from Burlington, Charlotte, Grand Isle, and Shoreham. All but the Shoreham ferry are operated by the Lake Champlain Transportation Company. Utilities and Communication Broadband coverage as of 2006[26] Total Coverage = 87% Cable = 68% DSL = 69% Wireless Internet Service Provider = 24% (Above percentages are of population, not of land area.) Cell phone coverage in the state, generally, outside of the major metropolitan areas is weak due to interference from mountains, the attempt to serve a small rural population living in a large area rendering investment in improvements uneconomical, and environmentalists opposition to towers. Unicel, focusing on rural areas, has better coverage. Education Academies and grammar schools Vermont's 1777 constitution was the first in English-speaking North America to mandate public funding for universal education. This requirement was first met by elementary-level village schools with sessions held in the cooler months to accommodate farm work. Most schools educated similar numbers of girls and boys. Conditions in these schools varied, and the highest level of instruction was tenth grade. By the end of the eighteenth century, grammar schools, instructing students in English, algebra, geometry, Greek, and Latin, had been established at Bennington, Burlington, Castleton, Middlebury, Montpelier, and Windsor. These grammar schools were of a higher caliber than the smaller villages' schools, and the level of education at some was equivalent to college level. By the middle nineteenth century, an expansion in settlement and the population of the state, coupled with increased prosperity, brought grammar schools to all corners of Vermont. Even the most remote Northeast Kingdom had established high-school-level instruction in Brownington, Craftsbury, Danville, Hardwick, and Newport. Many of these established grammar schools and academies, though not entirely public, received funds from area town governments in exchange for education of their students. As a system of public funding for primary and secondary education took root, many of these schools became municipal public schools. Several remained private, becoming private high-school-level academies, and several become colleges; the Rutland County Grammar School became Castleton State College, the Lamoille County Grammar School became Johnson State College, and the Addison County Grammar School became Middlebury College. Educating teachers In the 1860s a shortage of qualified teachers brought the establishment of state "normal schools," a term based on the French term école normale – a school to train teachers. The grammar schools at Castleton, Johnson, and Randolph Center became normal schools, additional normal schools were established in Concord and Lyndonville. Additional post secondary schools instructing students to become teachers were called seminaries. While several were nominally associated with Protestant churches, none were seminaries in the sense of training ministers. These seminars also graduated teachers to staff Vermont's growing number of primary and secondary schools. The one-room school house The one-room school house, born of small multi-age rural populations, continued well into the twentieth century. Rural towns without a single central village often built two to a half-dozen school houses across their terrain. Much of this came from a lack of transportation and a need for students to return home by mid afternoon for farm chores. By 1920 all public schools, including the one-room school houses, were regulated by the state government. In the early 1930s state legislation established a review and certification program similar to accreditation. Schools were issued regulations about teacher education and curriculum. Education quality in rural areas was maintained through a program called Vermont Standard Schools. Rural school houses meeting certification requirements displayed a green and white plaque with the Vermont coat of arms and the words "Vermont Standard School." Higher education During the period of the Vermont Republic several towns on the east side of the Connecticut River were part of Vermont. This included Hanover, and Dartmouth College. Statehood brought about establishment of the Connecticut River as a natural border. Having lost Dartmouth College, Ira Allen established the University of Vermont (UVM) in 1791 to complement the smaller college at Castleton. By the mid-twentieth century all but one of the state normal schools, and many of the seminaries, had become four year colleges of liberal arts and sciences. Experimentation at the University of Vermont by George Perkins Marsh, and later the influence of Vermont born philosopher and educator John Dewey brought about the concepts of electives and learning by doing. Today Vermont has five colleges within the Vermont State Colleges system, UVM, fourteen other private, degree-granting colleges, including Middlebury College, a private, co-educational liberal arts college founded in 1800, and the Vermont Law School at Royalton. Sports The largest professional franchise is the Vermont Lake Monsters, formerly the Vermont Expos, a single-A minor league baseball team based in Burlington. The Vermont Frost Heaves, the 2007 national champions, are a franchise of the American Basketball Association (Blue Conference), and have been based in Barre and Burlington since the fall of 2006. Vermont is home to a semi-professional football team, the Ice Storm, based in South Hero. It plays its home games at the Colchester High School stadium. It is a member of the Empire Football League. The Vermont Voltage is a USL Premier Development League soccer club that plays in St. Albans. Cultural Pursuits Vermont festivals include the Vermont Maple Festival, Festival on the Green, the Enosburg Falls Dairy Festival, the Apple Festival (held each Columbus Day Weekend), the Marlboro Music Festival, and the Vermont Mozart Festival. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is supported by the state and performs throughout the area. The Poetry Society of Vermont publishes a literary magazine called The Green Mountain Troubadore which encourages submissions from members of various ages. Every year they hold various contests - one being for high school age young people. The Brattleboro-based Vermont Theatre Company presents an annual summer Shakespeare festival. Brattleboro also hosts the summertime Strolling of the Heifers parade which celebrates Vermont's unique dairy culture. Montpelier is home to the annual Green Mountain Film Festival. In the Northeast Kingdom, The Bread and Puppet Theatre holds weekly shows in Glover in a natural outdoor amphitheater. One of Vermont's best known musical exports was the group Phish, whose members met while attending school in Vermont. The state had always held great importance for Phish—for example, lead singer and guitarist Trey Anastasio built a studio in Vermont used by the band and others, called The Barn. Phish ended their tenure together as a band with a farewell concert weekend in the state's Northeast Kingdom, which was dubbed "Coventry" after (in part) the venue city of Coventry, Vermont, on August 16, 2004. State symbols: State song - "These Green Mountains,"  Unofficial favorite state song - Moonlight in Vermont State bird - hermit thrush State flower - red clover State fish the cold-water fish, the brook trout the warm-water fish, the walleye State tree - sugar maple State mammal - Morgan horse State amphibian - Northern Leopard Frog State mineral - talc State rock - granite, marble, and slate Pie - apple pie Soil - "Tunbridge Soil Series" Beverage - milk gem - grossular garnet Fossil - the beluga Vermont is distinct for being among only three U.S. states with both a state seal and a coat of arms. Vermont is the only U.S. state to have a heraldically correct blazon describing its coat of arms. Notable Vermonters Vermont is the birthplace of former presidents Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur. The list of famous people from Vermont is an incomplete, alphabetized list of famous people who at one point called Vermont their home. Dreamy hills in vermont.  Burlington at sunset   Northern lights from vermont  Northern lights in lake champlain, vermont  A full moon in vermont  some info is from wikipedia. Last edited by tutuy; 05-11-2007 at 10:07 PM. 
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#2
05-11-2007, 09:31 PM
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I see a lack of facts, so I think I'll remain in Minnesota, thanks.
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#5
05-12-2007, 04:59 AM
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Quote:
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Everyone is entitled to my opinion.
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#10
05-12-2007, 10:09 AM
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I'd love to go to Vermont - you see, there's this thing in Maxim...
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http://i10.tinypic.com/4gox2ef.jpg
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#12
05-12-2007, 10:27 AM
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I think Vermont has the lowest contingency of Bush supporters and rednecks, so why not? Although I'm in Southern Ontario, Canada at the moment; there's no other place I'd rather be than in Espoo, Finland
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Better to die standing, than to live on your knees. - Ernesto Che Guevara
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#14
05-13-2007, 02:20 AM
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my uncle lives in australia.
he says it gets extremely hot in the winter and sometimes when he goes on the beach there are box jellyfish.  he says that people say there are too many poisonous animals there, true but as long as you watch out you will be fine. 
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#21
05-13-2007, 03:00 AM
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lol.
if you want to no more on some of the volcanos and stuff go to http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzea...tos/mountains/
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