Burlington Vermont History & Facts

Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located 45 miles (72 km) south of the Canada–United States border and 95 miles (153 km) south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It is the least populous city in the 50 U.S. states to be the most populous city in its state.

A regional college town, Burlington is home to Champlain College and the University of Vermont (UVM). Vermont's largest hospital, the UVM Medical Center, is within the city limits. The City of Burlington owns Vermont's largest airport, the Burlington International Airport, located in neighboring South Burlington. In 2015, Burlington became the first city in the U.S. to run entirely on renewable energy.

Two theories have been put forward regarding the origin of Burlington's name. The first is that it was named after Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, and the second is that the name honors the politically prominent and wealthy Burling family of New York. While no Burling family members are listed as grantees of the town, the family held large tracts of land in nearby towns, some of which were granted on the same day as Burlington.

One of the New Hampshire grants, the land that was developed as Burlington was awarded by New Hampshire colonial governor Benning Wentworth on June 7, 1763, to Samuel Willis and 63 others. In the summer of 1775, settlers began clearing the land and built two or three log huts, but the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War delayed permanent settlement until after its conclusion. The town was organized in 1785.

In 1808 the world's first lake-going steamboat was built in Burlington.

The War of 1812 was unpopular in Vermont and the rest of New England, which had numerous trading ties with Canada. Neither Vermont nor other New England states provided militia units or financial support. Vermont voters supported the Federalist Party, which opposed the war.

At one point during the war, the U.S. had 5,000 troops stationed in Burlington, outnumbering residents and putting a strain on resources. About 500 soldiers died of disease, which was always a problem due to poor sanitation in army camps. Some soldiers were quartered in the main building at the University of Vermont, where a memorial plaque commemorates them.

In a skirmish on August 2, 1813, British forces from Canada shelled Burlington. This is described as either a bold stroke by the British with an ineffectual response from the Americans or as a weak sally by the British, which was rightly ignored by the Americans. The cannonade lasted about 10 minutes and caused no casualties. The American troops involved were commanded by Naval Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough, later a hero of the Battle of Lake Champlain.

The city of Burlington is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, north of Shelburne Bay. It was built on a strip of land extending about 6 miles (9.7 km) south from the mouth of the Winooski River along the lake shore, and rises from the water's edge to a height of 300 feet (91 m).

A large ravine in what is now downtown was filled in with refuse and raw sewage in the 19th century to make way for further development.

Famous Peoples From Burlington Vermont

Alessandro Antine Nivola

(born June 28, 1972) is an American actor. He has been nominated for a Tony Award and an Independent Spirit Award and has won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival among others.

As a producer he runs King Bee Productions which made two seasons of the HBO comedy Doll & Em and the Independent Spirit Award nominated feature film To Dust.

Nivola was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Virginia (née Davis), is an artist, and his father, Pietro Salvatore Nivola, was a professor of political science and a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. Nivola's paternal grandfather was the Italian sculptor Costantino Nivola, and his paternal grandmother, Ruth Guggenheim, was a Jewish refugee from Germany.He was born the first of two boys; his brother, Adrian Nivola, a painter, is five years younger. Nivola attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University. His family also lived in Burlington, Vermont, where he attended Mater Christi School, a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy.

We also serve South Burlington city.

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