Vermont Trivia & Tidbits - Page 13

Looking for Vermont trivia? Try our list Vermont little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Before Vermont became an independent republic in 1777, its land was claimed by both New York and New Hampshire.

first appeared: 8/25/2002

Following an eruption of Mount Tambora, a Dutch East Indies volcano, and the ash cloud it spread around the world, Vermont had its chilliest summer on record in 1816, with snow and sleet in June and a crop-killing freeze in August.

first appeared: 8/18/2002

The Eureka Schoolhouse in Springfield (pop. 9,078) is the oldest schoolhouse in Vermont. Built in 1785, it may be toured today.

first appeared: 8/11/2002

The bridge over Quechee Gorge near Hartford (pop. 10,367) was built as a railroad span in 1875 and later converted for cars. At the time of its construction over the 165-foot-deep gorge, the bridge was considered a major engineering feat.

first appeared: 8/4/2002

From 1963-65, Vermont’s last railroad covered bridge, located in East Montpelier, was dismantled and reassembled over the Pemigewasset River. Today the bridge serves the White Mountain Central, a scenic steam-powered excursion train.

first appeared: 7/28/2002

Plaques bearing poems by Robert Frost are mounted on trees along the one-mile long Robert Frost Interpretive Trail near Ripton (pop. 556).

first appeared: 7/21/2002

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line (pop. 776) has a split personality: Half of it is in Vermont, the other half in Canada. The combined library and 400-seat opera theater was built in 1904.

first appeared: 7/14/2002

Smuggler’s Notch earned its name during the War of 1812 when smugglers used the pass through the Green Mountains to carry banned goods between Canada and the United States.

first appeared: 7/7/2002

Each year in Montpelier (pop. 8,035), children compete in the Odor-Eaters International Rotten Sneaker Contest. The youngster with the grungiest, foulest sneakers wins a $500 savings bond and a year’s supply of Odor-Eater products.

first appeared: 6/30/2002

The Fort Ticonderoga ferry has crossed Lake Champlain since 1759. Little more than a rowboat in its early days, by 1800 it had evolved into a double-ended sailing scow. Today’s ferry is diesel operated.

first appeared: 6/23/2002

According to local lore, Lake Champlain has its own Loch Ness monster. One tale has it that the first sighting of “Champ” was by Samuel de Champlain in 1605.

first appeared: 6/16/2002

When the U.S. postmaster learned in 1895 that British writer Rudyard Kipling, living in Dummerston (pop. 1,915), was receiving more mail than the largest business in nearby Brattleboro, he opened a special post office just to handle Kipling’s mail.

first appeared: 6/9/2002

Though several theories explain how Vermont got its name, most agree it derives from French explorer descriptions of the area as Les Monts Verts, or green mountains.

first appeared: 6/2/2002

Five states have adopted the monarch butterfly as a state emblem. Illinois was first, in 1975, followed by Vermont in 1987. The others are Alabama (1989), Idaho (1992), and Texas (1995).

first appeared: 5/26/2002

When Vice President Calvin Coolidge, vacationing in Plymouth (pop. 555), received a call informing him of President Warren Harding’s death, he was immediately sworn in as 30th president by his father, a notary public.

first appeared: 5/19/2002

A historic waterway, Lake Champlain contains shipwrecks dating back to the 1700s. Today, the state marks and maintains several underwater historic sites where scuba divers can examine some of those wrecks.

first appeared: 5/12/2002

Known for its covered bridges, Vermont has a total of 106 such spans, whose roofs and walls protect the wooden trusses from rot and decay.

first appeared: 5/5/2002

In August 1777, Gen. John Stark looked at a British army near Bennington and said, “Boys, yonder are the Redcoats and they are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow.” After the victory, he turned toward home on a road today called the Molly Stark Trail (Route 9).

first appeared: 4/28/2002

Groucho, Chico, and Harpo Marx vacationed during the summer on Lake Bomoseen near Rutland (pop. 17,292) in the 1930s.

first appeared: 4/21/2002

About a third of Vermont’s border with New York runs down the center of Lake Champlain, this country’s sixth-largest lake.

first appeared: 4/14/2002

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