Montpelier Vermont History & Facts

Montpelier is the capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Washington County. The site of Vermont's state government, it is the least populous state capital in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,074. However, the daytime population grows to about 21,000, due to the large number of jobs within city limits. The Vermont College of Fine Arts is located in the municipality. It was named after Montpellier, a city in the south of France.

The meadows and flats of the Winooski River were well known among natives for their corn-raising capacities. The natural site of Montpelier made it a favorite residence for the natives who first inhabited the land. The level plain of nearly two hundred acres of the rich farmland, sheltered from winds by the surrounding valley made the area comparatively warm and comfortable. Its position near the confluence of many streams allowed for favorable hunting, fishing, and trading. Native mounds, tombstones, and other memorials of aboriginal life and death were found in Montpelier, or in the vicinity, by the first settlers, and traces of some of them still remain.

Between 1600 and 1800, European settlers began to arrive in the region. Soon after, war, disease, and dispersal virtually destroyed the Native American settlements. However, evidence suggests some Native Americans remained in the area as late as the mid-1800s.

Originally charted on August 14, 1781, the Town of Montpelier was granted municipal powers by the "Governor, Council and General Assembly of the Freemen of the State of Vermont". The first permanent settlement began in May 1787, when Colonel Jacob Davis and General Parley Davis arrived from Charlton, Massachusetts. General Davis surveyed the land, while Colonel Davis cleared forest and erected a large log house on the west side of the North Branch of the Winooski River. His family moved in the following winter.

Colonel Davis selected the name "Montpelier" after the French city of Montpellier, capital of the department of Hérault. There was a general enthusiasm for things French as a result of the country's aid to the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. The settlement grew quickly, and by 1791 the population reached 117.

The configuration of the early village was strongly influenced by geography. As early as 1799 a bridge was constructed across the Winooski River to Berlin.

Montpelier is located in the north-central area of Vermont. The city center is a flat clay zone (elevation 520 ft/158 m), surrounded by hills and granite ledges. Towne Hill runs in a 2-mile (3.2 km) ridge (~900 ft/275 m) along the northern edge of the city.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.3 square miles (27 km2), of which 10.2 square miles (26 km2) is land and 0.10% is water. The Winooski River flows west along the south edge of downtown village and is fed by several smaller tributaries that cut through residential districts. Montpelier has been subject to periodic flooding in the flat city center, with two major floods occurring in 1927 and in 1992.

On its borders are the towns of Middlesex to the west, Berlin to the south, and East Montpelier to the north and east. Montpelier lies near the geographic center of the state. Though it does not share a border, Montpelier is frequently associated with the nearby city of Barre, and the two are often referred to together as "Barre-Montpelier".

Famous Peoples From Montpelier Vermont

Frederick Whiting Adams

(December 27, 1786 – December 17, 1858) was a noted physician, author, and violin maker.

He was born in Pawlet, Vermont in 1786, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1822.

Upon graduation, he practiced medicine in Barton, Vermont, continuing there through 1836. Beginning in 1835, he also attended medical lectures in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1836, he moved to Montpelier, Vermont, where he continued his practice.

He was a skilled violin player, and early in life turned his attention to making violins as an avocation. He was of the opinion that the superior tones of the Amati and Stradivarius instruments were due to their having been made of old and seasoned wood. Accordingly, he selected the wood for his violins himself from the forests of Vermont and Canada, taking his wood from partially decayed trees. He constructed 140 violins.

He is the author of several works dealing with theology, including Theological Criticism: or, Hints of the Philosophy of Man and Nature, published in 1843. He died in Montpelier in 1858.

He married Rachel Harmon (March 27, 1785 – December 16, 1818) on April 24, 1808. She was also born in Pawlet. They had five children. She died in Barton, Vermont, and he later married Mary Ann Wallace.

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