Vermont |
||
| Entered the Union: March 4, 1791 (14) | Capital: Montpelier | |
| State Nicknames: Green Mountain State | State Motto: Freedom and Unity | |
| Origin of Name: from the French “vert mont,” meaning “green mountain” | ||
| State Flower: Red Clover | State Bird: Hermit Thrush | |
| State Animal: Morgan Horse | State Tree: Sugar Maple | |
| State Butterfly: Monarch | State Flavor: Maple | |
| State Insect: Honey Bee | State Fruit: Apple | |
| State Fish: Brook Trout & Walleye Pike | State Pie: Apple Pie | |
| State Song: “These Green Mountains" | State Gem: Grossular garnet | |
| National Forests: 1 • State Parks: 52 | ||
| Famous for: Ski Resorts, Maple Syrup, Autumn Splendor | ||
| Famous Vermonters: Chester A. Arthur • Calvin Coolidge (Presidents), Orson Bean (actor), George Dewey (admiral), John Dewey (educator), Stephen A. Douglas (politician), Carlton Fisk (baseball), Henry Wells (pioneer entrepreneur - Wells Fargo Co.), Rudy Vallee (band leader) | ||
| Native Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birds on this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make. | ||
|
|||||||||||||
| The Abenaki, Mahican and Penacook groups were among the first Native Americans in the Vermont region. The New York Iroquois arrived around 1500, forcing many of the other groups away. During the early 1600s, several groups returned to conquer the Iroquois with help from French explorers. | |||||||||||||
| In 1609, explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed the Vermont region for France. The first French settlement was established at Fort Ste. Anne in 1666. The first English settlers moved into the area in 1724 and built Fort Dummer on the site of present-day Brattleboro. England gained control of the area in 1763 after the French and Indian Wars. | |||||||||||||
| In 1775 Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys won one of the first important American victories of the Revolutionary War by capturing Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point. In 1777 Vermont adopted its first constitution, abolishing slavery and providing for universal male suffrage without property qualifications. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont was the first state admitted to the union after the first 13 colonies. | |||||||||||||
| Montpelier, with about 8,000 residents, has the smallest population of any state capital. | |||||||||||||
| The first Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream store opened in Burlington in 1978. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont is one of the country's leading producers of marble. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont's largest private employer is the GlobalFoundries chip plant in Essex Junction, formerly owned by IBM. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont was, at various times, claimed by both New Hampshire and New York. | |||||||||||||
| U.S. President Calvin Coolidge was the only president born on the fourth of July. Born in Plymouth 7/4/1872. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont's state capitol building has a gold dome. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont is the largest producer of maple syrup in the U.S., producing over 2 million gallons a year. | |||||||||||||
| Forty years are required to grow a sugar maple tree large enough to tap. A tree ten inches in diameter is considered minimum tappable size for one tap. It takes 4-5 taps to produce enough maple sap (40 gallons) to produce one gallon of syrup. | |||||||||||||
| Milk is Vermont's #1 farm product. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont was the first state to outlaw slavery. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont does not allow billboard advertising. | |||||||||||||
| Ida May Fuller of Brattleboro was the first US citizen to receive a Social Security check in 1940.. She lived to be over 100 and collected over $20,000 in total benefits. | |||||||||||||
| More people live in a rural setting in VT than in an urban setting. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont is 160 miles long and 80 miles wide. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont is the second smallest state in population. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont has the least amount of violent crimes out of all 50 states. | |||||||||||||
| Montpelier is the only state capital without at McDonalds. | |||||||||||||
| The Von Trapp family, whose escape from Austria during World War II was made famous in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music,” moved to Stowe, about 40 miles west of Burlington, because the place reminded them of the Alpine setting they left behind. | |||||||||||||
| No. 15 of the Acts of 1999: When serving apple pie in Vermont, a "good faith" effort shall be made to serve it with: (a) with a glass of cold milk, (b) with a slice of cheddar cheese, (c) with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. | |||||||||||||
| Vermont Ethnic Roots: French 23.3%, English 18.4%, Irish 16.4%, German 9.1%, Italian 6.4%. | |||||||||||||
| Religion in Vermont: 67% Christian (38% Catholic, 29% Protestant), 22% No Religion, 2% Other Religions | |||||||||||||
| Vermont city nicknames:
Barre: Granite Center of the World Bennington: Most Historic Town Burlington: Queen City of Vermont, and Year-Round Vacationland Montpelier: Green Mountain City Rutland: Marble City Springfield: Cradle of Industry |
|||||||||||||
At a Glance
Vermont Quick Facts
| Entered the Union | March 4, 1791 (14) |
|---|---|
| Capital | Montpelier |
| Nickname | Green Mountain State |
| State Bird | Hermit Thrush |
| State Flower | Red Clover |
| State Tree | Sugar Maple |
New for 2026
More Vermont Facts & Photos
The Long Trail, built by the Green Mountain Club between 1910 and 1930, is the oldest long-distance hiking trail in the United States. It follows the ridge of the Green Mountains for 272 miles, from the Massachusetts line to the Canadian border, and inspired the Appalachian Trail.
In 1849, railroad workers near Charlotte dug up the skeleton of a beluga whale buried ten feet underground: about 11,000 years ago the Champlain Valley lay under an arm of the sea. The Charlotte whale is now Vermont's official state marine fossil.
Just over 100 authentic covered bridges still stand in Vermont, the most per square mile and per person of any state in the country.
Mount Mansfield, at 4,393 feet, is the highest peak in Vermont. Its summit ridge preserves about 200 acres of arctic-alpine tundra, a leftover from the Ice Age found in only two other spots in the state.
Quechee Gorge, carved by glacial meltwater about 13,000 years ago, drops 165 feet to the Ottauquechee River and is the deepest gorge in Vermont. The steel arch bridge spanning it was built in 1911 for a railroad and is the oldest of its kind surviving in the state.
Voices of America
In Their Own Words
Calvin Coolidge
“Our government rests upon religion. It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberality and for the rights of mankind. Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot believe in our government. There are only two main theories of government in the world. One rests on righteousness and the other on force."
President
Calvin Coolidge
"We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power.
We do not need more knowledge, we need more character.
We do not need more law, we need more religion."
President
John Dewey
"Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes."
Educator
Patrick Henry
"I have disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give to them, and that is the Christian religion. If they had that and I had not given them one cent, they would be rich."
Patriot
Calvin Coolidge
"The real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, charity- these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of Divine Grace.”
President
Last updated: July 2026