Montpelier is the capital of the US state of Vermont and the administrative seat (Shire Town) of Washington County. Located in the Green Mountains, the city is the smallest state capital in the United States.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of
26.6 km2, of which 26.5 km2 is land and the rest is water.
Geographical location
Montpelier is located on the north bank of the
west-flowing Winooski River, which is fed by several smaller tributaries
that flow through Montpelier's various residential neighborhoods. The
city is about 158 m above sea level and is surrounded by hills. Towne
Hill is a ridge about two miles long on the northern outskirts of town
and reaches an elevation of about 900 feet (275 m) above sea level. The
city of Montpelier is regularly threatened by flooding; severe floods
occurred in 1927, 1992 and 2011.
All distances are given as the crow flies between the official
coordinates of the 2010 census locations.
Northeast: East
Montpelier, 4.5 miles
Southeast: Barre, 7 miles
South: Berlin, 4.7
km
North West: Middlesex, 7.0 km
Note: Barre and Montpelier do not
share a common border, but are so close that it makes sense to include
them in this list.
The mean average temperature in Montpelier ranges from -9.3°C in January to 19.7°C in July. The average annual temperature is 5.8 °C (Vermont as a whole: 6 °C), the average annual precipitation is 884 mm, about a quarter of which is snow, which corresponds to an annual snowfall of about 2.30 m snow depth.
The Grant for Montpelier was proclaimed by the Vermont Republic on
October 21, 1780. Thimothy Biglow and others were the recipients of the
grant and this was fixed on August 14, 1781. It covered the usual 23,040
acres. A first settlement started in 1787 by the trapper Joel Frizzle,
who settled in the area and built a small log cabin. In May 1787,
Colonel Jacob Davis and General Parley Davis, who came to the area with
supplies and support from Charlton, Massachusetts, established the first
settlement. Jacob Davis also built the town's first sawmill and
gristmill. The constituent assembly took place on March 29, 1791.
The name Montpelier derives from the name of the French city of
Montpellier. It was Colonel Jacob Davis who chose the name. It was
fashionable at the time to give places French names, as France had
supported the United States in its quest for independence. Due to the
different spelling, the city should not be confused with the French
Montpellier in Languedoc.
The seat of the capital in Vermont
changed according to the principle of rotation. It wasn't until the
construction of the new Vermont State Capitol in Montpelier in 1805 that
the members of parliament decided that it was time to stop moving the
seat of government because of the city's central location and the
inexpensive building land. Even a fire that destroyed the impressive
1838 successor except for the granite walls and portico could not deter
the Vermonters from building the present Capitol building on its base.
This is considered by many tourists to be the prettiest government
building in the United States, with its gold leaf dome set against the
backdrop of the changing canopy of leaves in a nearby park. In 1895
Montpelier was elevated to the status of a city.
Buildings
One of the most famous buildings in Montpelier is the
Vermont State Capitol. It is located at 115 State Street.
The
Pavilion Hotel in the Steamboat Gothic style - was the residence of
various MPs during the legislative period until it was demolished in
1966, today it has been rebuilt as a replica on the old site. It houses
the Vermont Historical Society Museum.
The National Park Service
identifies Montpelier with the Vermont State Capitol as a National
Historic Landmark (as of December 2016). Six structures and sites in the
community are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)
as of November 13, 2018.
Business
Metal and wood processing industry
mills
Manufacturing of maple syrup
Headquarters of various insurance
companies, e.g. of the National Life Insurance Company since 1848
Interstate 89, also known as the Veterans Highway, runs through the
southwest of Montpelier. Coming from East Montpelier and traveling
west-east through Montpelier, the U.S. Highway 2. It follows the course
of the Winooski River and meets the interstate in the southwest, which
it then parallels to the west. Vermont State Route 12 bisects Montpelier
in a north-south direction, and Vermont State Route 302 connects
Montpelier with Barre to the south.
Montpelier is served by the
Vermonter of the Amtrak railway company via the Montpelier Junction
station in Berlin.
Montpelier does not have its own airfield; Air
travelers can either arrive by private plane at Edward F. Knapp State
Airport in Berlin or at Burlington International Airport in Chittenden
County, 35 miles northwest.
Public facilities
There is no
hospital in Montpelier. The closest is the Central Vermont Medical
Center in Berlin.
Montpelier is home to the Montpelier Public Schools. They include
Union Elementary School, Main Street Middle School and Montpelier High
School.
The Community College of Vermont has a campus in
Montpelier.
The private Union Institute & University, a research
organization specializing in distance learning programs, is based in
Montpelier.
The Vermont College of Fine Arts was founded in
Montpelier in 1831. It is a higher education institute and national
center for education with a hands-on learning model.
The
Kellogg-Hubbard Library was founded in 1889. It stems from the legacy of
Martin M. Kellog, a New York real estate agent who was born in Barre.
Just three months after his death, his wife Fanny, née Hubbard and a
native of Montpelier, also died. They bequeathed their fortune to the
City of Montpelier on condition that new entrance gates be built for the
Green Mount Cemetery and a public library. Today, several works of art
can also be seen on the building and on the property.