Metals and Mining. Iron of excellent quality is found in many parts of the State; particularly at the base of the Green Mountains in the Southwest Valley in Bennington, Wallingford, Brandon, Chittenden and, still further north, in Monkton; east of the Green Mountains by the Black River in Plymouth and near the Missisquoi River in Troy. Iron is not now mined in Vermont. Since 1809 copperas has been manufactured in large quantity just south of the Ompompanoosuc River in Strafford. Manganese is found in many places in the State, often in connection with iron. It is not mined at the present time. Ochre for paints is manufactured in Bennington and Brandon. Copper is found in many places in Vermont and has been mined in great quantities in Corinth and Vershire between the Waits and the Ompompanoosuc rivers. Lead has been found in a few places in the State, but not in sufficient quantity to pay for working. Gold is widely distributed in the State and has been worked along the middle portion of the White River and on branches of the Quechee River in Bridgewater and Plymouth. But gold mining has never been found profitable in Vermont. MAP OF VERMONT ROCKS AND QUARRIES. EXPLANATIONS. Rock areas are surrounded by dotted lines. The name or abbreviation of the name of the rock is written within the area. Only the most imporWINDSOR tant areas are indicated on the map. "steatite and scapstone. verde-antique, or serpentine. CHAPTER IX. Divisions of the State. Vermont contains (1895-6) two hundred forty-three towns, three being unorganized towns, six gores and five cities. The five cities are Vergennes, Burlington, Rutland, Montpelier and Barre, chartered in the order given. A town is a body of people living on a definitely bounded territory and organized under the laws of the State for self-government. The word town is sometimes applied to a piece of land on which there is or may be a town, as described. An unorganized town is a portion of territory granted with the condition that the inhabitants may organize as a town when they have become sufficiently numerous. A gore is a portion of territory granted without the condition that the inhabitants may organize as a town. A city is a town to which some special privileges with respect to government have been granted by the State. At first the towns were laid out to average six miles square as nearly as was practicable. But there were inequalities at the beginning, and many changes have been made so that the towns are now very unequal in area, and some are quite irregular in shape. A county There are fourteen counties in Vermont. is a group of towns united for the convenient administration of justice. The town in which the county courts are held, and where the county buildings are, is called a shire town. Bennington County has two shire towns called half shires. Each of the other counties has one shire town. The county buildings are a court house and a jail. The capital of a State is the town in which the General Assembly meet and make laws. There are twenty probate districts in the State. Each of the six southern counties contains two probate districts; each of the other counties constitutes one probate district. A probate district is a group of towns united for the holding of probate courts. There are two congressional districts in Vermont. These are divisions of the State for the election of Representatives in Congress. CHAPTER X. Some Important Towns and Cities. In Vernon, in the southeast corner of the State, was the first settlement in Vermont, not later than 1690. At South Vernon is a railroad junction. Brattleboro, by the Connecticut River in the southeastern part of the State, and at the junction of several railroads, is distinguished for the manufacture of Estey Organs. It also contains an asylum for the insane. Fort Dummer, important in the early history of Vermont, was beside the Connecticut River near the present village of Brattleboro. Westminster, beside the Connecticut River, just below Bellows Falls, was once the shire town of Cumberland County. It was here that Vermont was declared to be an independent State. 1 Springfield 2 Chester 3 Andover 4 Weston 5 Ludlow 12 Lewis 13 Averill 15 Canaan Chittenden County 1 Milton 2 Westford 3 Underhill 4 Jericho 5 Essex 6 Colchester 26 Danby 27 Mt Tabor Bennington County 1 Rupert 2 Dorset 3 Peru 4 Landgrove 5 Winhall 6 Manchester 7 City Burlington 7 Sandgate 8 So Burlington 9 Williston 10 Shelburne 11 St. George 12 Richmond 13 Bolton 14 Huntington 15 Hinesburgh 16 Charlotte 8 Arlington 9 Sunderland 10 Glastenbury 11 Shaftsbury 12 Bennington 13 Woodford 14 Searsburg 15 Readsboro 16 Stamford Pownal Washington County 1 Roxbury A Buel and Avery's17 Addison County 1 Ferrisburgh 3 Starksboro 4 City Vergennes 5 Panton 6 Waltham 14 Lemington 16 Norton 6 Cavendish 7 Baltimore B Warren's Gore 9 Bristol 8 Weathersfield C Warner's Grant 10 Lincoln 11 9 Windsor Orleans County 12 Granville Ripton 10 West Windsor 1 Greensboro 11 Reading 12 Plymouth 2 Craftsbury 3 Lowell 13 Bridgewater 4 Albany 14 Woodstock 15 Hartland 16 Hartford 17 Pomfret 18 Barnard 5 Glover 6 Barton 13 Middlebury 7 Irasburgh 19 Hancock 19 Stockbridge 10 Westmore 22 Whiting 2 Warren 3 Fayston 4 Waitsfield 5 Northfield 6 Barre City Barre 7 Berlin 8 Moretown 9 Duxbury 10 Waterbury 11 Middlesex 12 City Montpelier 13 East Montpelier 14 Plainfield 15 Marshfield 16 Calais 17 Worcester A Goshen Gore Lamoille County 1 Stowe 10 Belvidere Probate Districts A Marlboro C Windsor 3 Berkshire 7 Chelsea 4 Richford Rutland 10 5 Montgomery City Rutland B Westminster 9 West Fairlee 6 Enosburgh 11 Proctor 7 Sheldon 12 West Rutland D Hartford 11 Bradford 8 Swanton 14 Fair Haven 15 West Haven 16 Poultney 17 Ira 18 Clarendon 19 Shrewsbury A Avery's Gore 20 Mt Holly 21 Wallingford Grand Isle County 22 Tinmouth 1 Alburgh 23 Middletown 2 Isle La Motte 24 Wells 3 North Hero 25 Pawlet NOTE. The cities of Vermont are Vergennes, Burlington, Rutland, Montpelier and Barre, and are given in the order of their incorporation; the last two were chartered in 1894. |