Vermont gets a bad rap from the rest of New England as the quiet one: cows, covered bridges, and a guy in flannel selling syrup out of his garage. And sure, that's all true. But dig into the fun facts about Vermont and you'll find a state that used to be its own country, kicked billboards to the curb, and once got promoted to "Great Lake" status for a couple of weeks. The Green Mountain State is a lot weirder (and a lot cooler) than it lets on.
So grab a maple creemee and pull up a stool. Here are 15 things you probably didn't know about Vermont, and if you've driven every back road on this list, the Vermont Tourist Attraction T-Shirt is basically your road-trip résumé.
1. Vermont Was Its Own Country for 14 Years
Before it was a state, Vermont was the Vermont Republic. Settlers who were sick of fighting with New York over land grants declared independence in 1777, right in the middle of the Revolution, and ran their own show until 1791. That's when Vermont joined the Union as the 14th state, the first one admitted after the original 13. The Vermont Republic also abolished slavery before any other American state. Independent streak? It's in the soil.
2. The State Capital Has No McDonald's
Montpelier is the only state capital in America without a McDonald's, and it doesn't have a Starbucks either. It's also the least populous state capital in the country, with about 8,000 people at the 2020 census. Locals will happily point you to a diner, a bakery or a co-op instead. Nobody's crying about the missing drive-thru.
3. Billboards Are Banned
Drive through Vermont and notice what's missing: giant ads for personal injury lawyers. Vermont outlawed billboards along its roads in 1968, and it's one of only four states that have done it, along with Hawaii, Maine and Alaska. Vermonters are proud of it, and honestly, once you've seen a foliage drive without a 40-foot ad for a car dealership in the way, you get it.
4. It Makes About Half of America's Maple Syrup
Vermont produces roughly 50 percent of the nation's maple syrup, more than any other state. Come late winter, every other tree in the state has a tap, a bucket or a blue tubing line running off it, and sugar shacks are puffing steam on every back road. Grade A amber on your pancakes is practically a civic duty. If you treat the real stuff like liquid gold, the Liquid Gold T-Shirt was made for you. (And don't even think about putting the fake stuff on the table.)
5. Lake Champlain Was a Great Lake for About 18 Days
On March 6, 1998, President Clinton signed a bill pushed by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy that included one sneaky line: Lake Champlain was now a Great Lake. That meant extra federal research money. The rest of the Great Lakes crowd was not amused, and after a small uproar the status was rescinded on March 24. Vermont still calls it "the Sixth Great Lake" anyway. It's also home to Champ, the lake monster, who we covered in our Champ, the Lake Champlain Monster legend post.
6. Burlington Was the First City in the U.S. to Run on 100% Renewable Electricity
In 2015, Burlington became the first city in America to get all of its electricity from renewable sources, mostly hydro, wind, solar and a big wood-chip power plant. Statewide, Vermont has the highest share of renewable electricity generation in the country. Granola reputation? Earned, fair and square.
7. Ben & Jerry's Started in an Old Gas Station
On May 5, 1978, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield put $12,000 into a renovated gas station in downtown Burlington and started scooping ice cream. A year later they celebrated with the first Free Cone Day, which is still a thing. Their factory in Waterbury is one of the state's biggest tourist stops, and it even has a Flavor Graveyard with little headstones for discontinued flavors. Rest in peace, every pint we loved too hard.
8. It Has the Most Covered Bridges per Square Mile in America
Vermont has just over 100 authentic covered bridges, giving it the most covered bridges per square mile and per person of any state. A whole lot of them were lost in the Flood of 1927, so the ones still standing are treated like local treasures. Plan a foliage drive and you can hit a half dozen before lunch.
9. Only Wyoming Has Fewer People
Vermont has about 645,000 residents, which makes it the second-least populated state in the country. And no other state's biggest city is smaller than Burlington. There are more cows per person than you'd find in most states, and everybody knows somebody who knows your cousin. You can't get away with anything here.
10. Rudyard Kipling Wrote The Jungle Book in Vermont
Yep, Mowgli and Baloo were born in Windham County. British author Rudyard Kipling married Brattleboro's Carrie Balestier in 1892 and built a house called Naulakha just over the line in Dummerston. He lived there until 1896, and that's where he wrote The Jungle Book and Captains Courageous. You can actually rent the house for a stay today.
11. A Vermont Farmer Took the First Photo of a Single Snowflake
Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley of Jericho rigged a bellows camera to a microscope and, on January 15, 1885, photographed a single snowflake for the first time. He went on to capture more than 5,000 snow crystals and helped popularize the idea that no two snowflakes are alike. Only a Vermonter would look at a February blizzard and think, "Let's get a closer look."
12. Two Presidents Were Born Here (One on the Fourth of July)
Chester A. Arthur was born in Fairfield, and Calvin Coolidge was born in Plymouth Notch on July 4, 1872. Coolidge is the only U.S. president born on Independence Day. "Silent Cal" was famous for saying as little as possible, which might be the most Vermont thing a president has ever done.
13. Apple Pie Is the Official State Pie
Vermont made apple pie its official state pie in 1999. And this being Vermont, the law's backers spelled out how you're supposed to enjoy it: with a glass of cold milk, a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a slice of cheddar cheese. If you've never had apple pie with sharp Vermont cheddar on top, you haven't lived.
14. The State Animal Is a Horse Named After a Guy
The Morgan horse, one of the oldest horse breeds developed in America, became Vermont's state animal in 1961. The whole breed traces back to one stallion named Figure, who ended up being called "Justin Morgan" after his best-known owner. The University of Vermont still keeps the bloodline going at its Morgan Horse Farm in Weybridge.
15. The Battle of Bennington Wasn't Fought in Bennington
The 306-foot Bennington Battle Monument towers over southern Vermont to honor the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777. Small detail: the actual fighting happened about 10 miles away in Walloomsac, New York. The Americans were protecting a supply depot in Bennington, so Vermont got the name, the monument, and the bragging rights. New York got... a footnote.
Small State, Big Personality
So the next time somebody calls Vermont "the quiet one," hit 'em with a few of these. A former country with no billboards, no McDonald's in the capital, half the country's syrup and its own almost-Great Lake is anything but boring. Want more? Check out the American firsts that came out of Vermont and the strange laws Vermonters have to obey.
Got a Vermont fact we missed? Drop it on our socials. And if your heart's somewhere up Route 100, the Green Mountain State never really leaves you.
Stay wicked,
Ryan and the Chowdaheadz crew