:: wikimiki.org ::

New Hampshire Route 10A

New Hampshire Route 10A

New Hampshire Route 10 is a north–south state highway in New Hampshire. Its southern terminus is at the Massachusetts state line in the town of Winchester, NH. In Massachusetts the highway becomes MA-10. It runs northward near the western side of the state. The northern terminus is at the junction with US-3 in Carroll. On its route it merges with several other highways for some distance, including US-302, US-4, I-89, Route 25, Route 123, and Route 9. Total length of the highway is approximately 143 miles (231 km).

Route 10A

New Hampshire Route 10A (NH-10A) is an east–west highway in Hanover, New Hampshire. It is known as the shortest state highway in New Hampshire. The eastern terminus of Route 10A is in the center of Hanover at the junction with NH-10, which is Main Street. The western terminus of NH-10A is on the bridge over the Connecticut River, which is the border with Vermont. The road continues into Vermont and becomes Main Street in the town of Norwich. Total length of NH-10A is approximately 0.6 mile (0.9 km). This road is locally named West Wheelock Road in Hanover.

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the United States of America.

Name

Mass-adchu-et

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the indigenous population, the Massachusett, whose name can be segmented :mass-adchu-et where mass is "great", adchu is "hill" and et is a locative suffix. It has been translated as :at the great hill, or at the place of large hills, or at the range of hills with reference to the Blue Hills, or in particular, Big Blue Hill, located on the boundary of Milton and Canton, to the southwest of Boston.

Commonwealth

Massachusetts officially designates itself a "commonwealth", although "state" is commonly used.

History

Early settlement

Various Algonquin tribes inhabited the area prior to European settlement. In the Massachusetts Bay area resided the Massachusett. Near the Vermont and New Hampshire borders and the Merrimack River valley was the traditional home of the Pennacook tribe. Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and southeast Massachusetts were the home of the Wampanoag, whom the Pilgrims met. The extreme end of the Cape was inhabited by the closely related Nauset tribe. Much of the central portion and the Connecticut River valley was home to the loosely organized Nipmuc peoples. The Berkshires were the home of both the Pocomtuc and the Mahican tribes. Spillovers of Narragansett and Mohegan from Rhode Island and Connecticut, respectively, were also present. The Massachusett, as were all the native Americans on the coast of New England, were heavily decimated by waves of smallpox both before and after the arrival of Captain John Smith in 1614. They had developed no immunity to the disease, a common story when Europeans visited parts of the world remote from Europe. If the tribe had survivors, there is no record of them after this point. The Pilgrims from the Humber region of England established their settlement at Plymouth in 1620, arriving on the Mayflower. One of their first tasks was to form a government, the Mayflower compact. They also suffered grievously from the native smallpox, but they were assisted in their time of trouble by the Wampanoags under chief Massasoit. In 1621 they celebrated their first Thanksgiving Day together to thank God for their survival. About half survived the first year. From that time on the English settlers spread rapidly into clearings and fields depopulated by smallpox, their numbers swelled by the harsh treatment of puritans by Charles I at home. The natives called them the Yengeeze, their pronunciation of English, which became yankee. A shared culture prevailed for a time.

Massachusetts Bay Colony period (1629-1686)

The Pilgrims were soon followed by the Puritans from the River Thames region of England, who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It eclipsed Plymouth in numbers and economy, the chief factor being the good harbor at Boston. The English Revolution began and Massachusetts Bay Colony became a Puritan stonghold. Relations with the natives were still good at this time. In 1646 the Long Parliament gave John Eliot a commission and funds to preach to the Wampanoags. He succeeded in converting a large number. The colonial government placed them in a ring of villages around Boston as a defensive strategy. They were called praying indians. The oldest, Natick, was built in 1651. Although the Puritans came to Massachusetts for religious freedom, they were not tolerant of any religion other than theirs. Pilgrims, as well as Anglicans, Quakers, and a handful of other denominations were grudgingly accepted in the Puritan communities for a time. Then Quakers were banned, and in 1660 four were hanged on Boston Common (see Mary Dyer). People such as Anne Hutchinson, Roger Williams, and Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts and went South because of the Puritans' lack of religious tolerance. Williams ended up founding the colony of Rhode Island and Hooker founded Connecticut. The colonists' policy toward natives fared no better than their religious tolerance. They treated natives as simpletons, leading at last to a sanguinary attempt to drive the English into the sea under Massasoit's son, Philip. King Philip's War (1675-1676), the bloodiest Indian war of the early colonial period, included major campaigns in the Pioneer Valley and Plymouth Colony. It took many years for the colonies of southern New England to recover from the effects of the war. The praying indians had attempted to give warning, but they were scorned and ignored. When the blow fell in 1675 the praying indians were caught in the middle. Most left Massachusetts. The colonists took those who stayed into internment on Deer and Long Islands in Boston Harbor, partly for their own protection. The government succeeded in preventing the colonists from massacring them there, but they died of deprivation and disease. Only 400 emerged in 1677, to reoccupy Wampanoag lands in southeastern Massachusetts. Until they merged in 1691, Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony were separate colonies.

Dominion of New England (1686-1692)

In May of 1686, the Massachusetts Bay Colony came to an end, as Joseph Dudley became President of New England under a commission of King James II. He established his authority later in New Hampshire and the King's Province (part of today's Rhode Island), maintaining this position until Sir Edmund Andros arrived to become the Royal Governor of the Dominion of New England. Dudley continued on as a member of Governor Andros' council. At the news of the accession of William and Mary, the Boston colonials rebelled. Andros and his officials were held on Castle Island and then sent back to England as prisoners. Andros was exonerated and went on to become Governor of Virginia (1692–98).

Royal Colony of Massachusetts (1692-1774)

Notable governors during this period were Thomas Hutchinson, Sir Francis Bernard, and Thomas Gage. Gage was the last British governor of Massachusetts.

Revolutionary Massachusetts (1760s-1780s)

Massachusetts was the first colony to revolt against the Crown, and thus the instigator of the American Revolution. On February 9, 1775, the British Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in rebellion, and sent additional troops to restore order to the colony. In Boston on March 5, 1770, an African-American named Crispus Attucks, from Framingham, was killed (along with four other American colonists) at an event that became known as the Boston Massacre; Attucks is often considered the first casualty of the American Revolution. Several early Revolutionary battles took place in Massachusetts, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord (where the famous shot heard 'round the world was fired), the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1780-present)

A Constitutional Convention drew up a Constitution drafted mainly by John Adams, and the people ratified it on June 15, 1780. At that time, Adams along with Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin wrote in the Preamble to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, 1780: "We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe, in affording us, in the course of His Providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence or surprize, on entering into an Original, explicit, and Solemn Compact with each other; and of forming a new Constitution of Civil Government, for Ourselves and Posterity, and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design, Do agree upon, ordain and establish, the following Declaration of Rights, and Frame of Government, as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

Other notable history

- Battles of the American Revolution - Battles of Lexington and Concord, Siege of Boston, Battle of Bunker Hill.
- Shays' Rebellion - Western Massachusetts uprising after the Revolution.
- First Governor of the Commonwealth - John Hancock was the first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- U.S. Constitution - On February 6, 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
- Slavery - According to a 1790 census, Massachusetts had a zero population of slaves.
- District of Maine - On March 15, 1820, Maine was separated from Massachusetts, of which it had been a non-contiguous part, and entered the Union as the 23rd State. (See Missouri Compromise)
- Massachusetts contains many historic houses.
- Invention of sports: :
- Basketball was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts. :
- Volleyball was invented in Holyoke, Massachusetts. :
- The earliest reference to Baseball was also in Massachusetts, in Pittsfield.

Geography

Pittsfield, much more rural than Springfield, in the southern part of the valley, or Boston, which is on the coast.]] Massachusetts is bordered on the north by New Hampshire and Vermont, on the west by New York, on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. At the southeastern corner of the state is a large, sandy, arm-shaped peninsula called Cape Cod. The islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket lie to the south of Cape Cod. Massachusetts is known as the Bay State because of the several large bays that give its coastline its distinctive shape: Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay on the state's east coast, and Buzzards Bay to the south. A few cities and towns on the Massachusetts–Rhode Island border are also adjacent to Narragansett Bay. Boston is the largest city, located at the inmost point of Massachusetts Bay, at the mouth of the Charles River, the longest river entirely within Massachusetts. Most of the population of the Boston metropolitan area (approximately 5,800,000) does not live in the city; eastern Massachusetts on the whole is fairly densely populated and largely suburban. Western Massachusetts is more rural and sparsely populated, especially in the Berkshires, the branch of the Appalachian Mountains which forms the western border of the state. The most populated part of western Massachusetts is the "Pioneer Valley," alongside the Connecticut River, which flows across Western Massachusetts from north to south.

Economy

Connecticut River produces the paper for Federal Reserve notes]] [http://www.bea.gov/ The Bureau of Economic Analysis] estimates that Massachusetts's total state product in 2003 was $297 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $39,504, 4^th in the nation. Its agricultural outputs are seafood, nursery stock, dairy products, cranberries, and vegetables. Its industrial outputs are machinery, electric equipment, scientific instruments, printing, and publishing. Thanks largely to the Ocean Spray cooperative, Massachusetts is the second largest cranberry producing state in the union (after Wisconsin). Other sectors vital to the Massachusetts economy include higher education, health care, financial services and tourism.

Demographics

Population

The population of Massachusetts in 2004 was 6,416,505 according to the US Census Bureau. There were 881,400 foreign-born residents living in the state in 2004. Since 1990 the population has increased 400,000, a growth of 6.7% The bulk of the state's population surrounds Greater Boston, with approximately 5,800,000 people, and the North and South Shores. Historically, the coast has been much more urban than Western Massachusetts, which is very rural, save for the cities of Springfield and Worcester.

Race and Ancestry

The racial makeup of Massachusetts:
- 81.9% White
- 6.8% Hispanic
- 5.4% Black
- 3.8% Asian
- 0.2% Native American
- 2.3% Mixed race The five largest reported ancestries in Massachusetts are: Irish (22.5%), Italian (13.5%), English (11.4%), French (8%), German (5.9%). Massachusetts is the most Irish state in the nation and the only state in which people of Irish ancestry (especially in the Boston suburbs) are a plurality. Massachusetts Yankees of English ancestry still have strong presence in the state, including in Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard. Franco-Bay Staters are the largest group in much of western and central Massachusetts. Boston has a large African-American population and its largest immigrant group is Haitians. Fall River and New Bedford on the south coast have large populations of people with Portuguese and Brazilian heritages, with a growing Brazilian population in the Boston area. Census figures become less reliable due to the large, partly undocumented Brazilian population, estimated by some studies to approach 250,000 in Massachusetts. Census data does not account for this significant segment of the community because of confusing terminology, as Brazilians speak Portuguese and often do not consider themselves specifically Hispanic, Latino, White or African American. Lowell, in the northeast of the state, is home to the second largest Cambodian (Khmer) community in the country, outside of Long Beach, California. Although most of the Native Americans were decimated by disease and warfare, the Wampanoag tribe maintains a reservation at Aquinnah, on Martha's Vineyard and a non-recognized reservation at Mashpee. The Nipmuc maintain two state-recognized reservations in the central part of the state.

Religion

Although Massachusetts was initially founded and settled by staunch Protestants (Puritan separatists) in the 17th Century and remained a majority-White Anglo Saxon Protestant state for most of its history, it has since become the second most Catholic state in the Union (second only to next-door Rhode Island in its percentage of Catholic population) due to massive Catholic immigration (especially from Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Quebec, Puerto Rico) over the years. Christian Science began in Massachusetts. Today nearly half of the residents of Massachusetts are Roman Catholics and Protestants make up less than one-third of the state's population. The descendants of the Puritans are the Congregational/United Church of Christ members, who remain prominent in the state. Massachusetts also has one of the nation's largest Unitarian Universalist populations. Both of these denominations are noted for their strong support of social justice, civil rights, and moral issues, including strong and early advocacy of abolition of slavery, women's liberation, and legal recognition of gay marriage, though this may differ from their historical practices. The religious affiliations of the people of Massachusetts (as of 2001) are shown in the table below:
- Christian – 79%
- Catholic – 47%
- Protestant – 31%
- Congregational/United Church of Christ – 4%
- Baptist – 4%
- Episcopal – 3%
- Methodist – 2%
- Pentecostal – 2%
- Other Protestant or general Protestant – 16%
- Other Christian – 1%
- Jewish – 2%
- Unitarian – 1%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious – 17%

Government

Unitarian The capital of Massachusetts is Boston and the current governor is His Excellency Mitt Romney (Republican). All governors of Massachusetts are given the title His Excellency, a carry-over from the Commonwealth's British past, despite titles being uncommon in American political traditions. The state does not maintain an official governor's residence. Massachusetts's two U.S. senators are Edward Kennedy (Democrat) and John Kerry (Democrat); as of the 2001 redistricting, Massachusetts has ten seats in the United States House of Representatives (all Democratic), giving Massachusetts the largest one-party delegation in Congress (i.e. twelve Democrats). The state legislature is formally styled the "Great and General Court" and is manned mostly by Democrats; the highest court is the "Supreme Judicial Court."

Legal holidays observed

Whenever a holiday falls on a Sunday it is observed on the following Monday.
- Celebrated only in Suffolk County (Boston, Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop) and the city of Somerville.

Politics

Liberal reputation

Massachusetts has a reputation as being a politically liberal state, and is often used as an archetype of liberalism in the U.S. It is the home of the Kennedy family of political fame, and routinely votes for the Democratic Party in federal elections. As of 2005, it is by far the largest U.S. state represented by only one party in the U.S. Congress. Although Republicans have held the governor's office continuously from 1991 to the present, many of these (especially William Weld, the first of the recent lineage of Republican governors) are considered among the most progressive Republicans in the nation. Two of these governors, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift took office when their predecessors resigned to take other positions. The liberal tendencies of Massachusetts extend throughout American history: in the 19th century, Massachusetts was a center of abolitionism, having been the first state to abolish slavery by law. During the Colonial period, Massachusetts was one of the leading states in the fight for independence. Recently, Massachusetts has adopted electronic document formats for the government that have the specifications available, so the people will not have to lock themselves to a proprietary office suite to view government documents. The OASIS OpenDocument XML format and PDF formats have been approved. In presidential elections, Massachusetts supported Republicans until 1912, from 1916 through 1924, in the 1950s, and in 1980 and 1984. From 1988 through 2004, Massachusetts has supported Democratic presidential candidates, giving native son John Kerry his largest margin of victory among states with a 25 percentage point margin and 61.9% of the vote. Every county in the Commonwealth supported the Democratic candidate. On the other hand, during the first half of the 1900s Boston was quite socially conservative, and strongly under the influence of Methodist minister J. Frank Chase and his New England Watch and Ward Society, founded in 1878. In 1903, the Old Corner Bookstore was raided and fined for selling Boccaccio's Decameron. Howard Johnson's got its start when Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude was banned in Boston, and the production had to be moved to Quincy. In 1927, works by Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and Sherwood Anderson were removed from bookstore shelves. "Banned in Boston" on a book's cover could actually boost sales. Burlesque artists such as Sally Rand needed to modify their act when performing at Boston's Old Howard. The clean version of a performance used to be known as the "Boston version." By 1929, the Watch and Ward society was perceived to be in decline when it failed in its attempt to ban Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, but as late as 1935 it succeeded in banning Lillian Hellman's play The Children's Hour. Censorship was enforced by city officials, notably the "city censor" within the Boston Licensing Division. That position was held by Richard J. Sinnott from 1959 until the office was abolished on March 2, 1982. In modern times, few of such puritanical social mores persist.

Defamation of the Commonwealth

In 2002, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania partially blamed the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal on Boston saying "...it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm." These remarks resurfaced in July of 2005 when an editorial in the Boston Globe republished Santorum's comments. Although he was heavily criticized for his remarks, Santorum not only refused to apologize, but, on August 1 2005 he complained that Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts "did nothing" about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in 2002. "They spoke nothing. They sat by and let this happen," Santorum said. During the 2004 Presidential Election, Massachusetts was the target of many GOP regionalist attacks along the campaign trail. When informed that the Democratic National Convention would be in Boston, House Majority Leader Dick Armey remarked, "If I were a Democrat, I suspect I'd feel a heck of a lot more comfortable in Boston than, say, America." While campaigning in the western part of the country, President Bush would often jab, "My opponent says he's in touch with the West, but sometimes I think he means Western Massachusetts." The stump speech that he used at many of his campaign stops included many such remarks directed at Massachusetts and New England in general.

Contemporary political issues

Following a November 2003 decision of the state's Supreme Court, Massachusetts became the first (and heretofore only) state to issue same-sex marriage licenses on May 17, 2004. See the articles on same-sex marriage in the United States and same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

Famous politicians and public figures

- John Adams, 1st Vice President of the U.S., 2nd President of the U.S., 1800 Federalist presidential nominee
- John Quincy Adams, Congressman, Senator, 6th President of the U.S.
- Samuel Adams, Patriot in the American Revolutionary War
- George H. W. Bush, 43rd Vice President of the U.S., 41st President of the U.S.
- Calvin Coolidge, 29th Vice President of the U.S., 30th President of the U.S.
- Michael Dukakis, Governor, 1988 Democratic presidential nominee
- Benjamin Franklin, Patriot in the American Revolutionary War
- Elbridge Gerry, Congressman, Governor, 5th Vice President of the U.S., namesake of gerrymandering
- John Hancock, Governor, President of the Continental Congress
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Supreme Court Justice
- James Michael Curley, Governor, Congressman, Mayor of Boston
- Edward M. Kennedy, incumbent U.S. Senator, 1980 Democratic presidential candidate
- John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator, 35th President of the U.S.
- Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (representing New York), 1968 Democratic presidential candidate
- John F. Kerry, Lt. Governor, incumbent U.S. Senator, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee
- Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Theodore Sedgwick, President pro tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Paul Tsongas, U.S. Senator, 1992 Democratic presidential candidate
- Henry Wilson, U.S. Senator, 18th Vice President of the U.S.

Massachusetts cities, towns and counties

18th Vice President of the U.S. Massachusetts shares with the five other New England states, plus New York and New Jersey, a governmental structure known as the "New England town."

Prominent cities and towns

There are 50 cities and 301 towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, grouped into 14 counties. Municipalities of historical or cultural prominence include:

Education and research

New Jersey

The central role of education

Massachusetts contains only 2.5% of the U.S. population, but is home to many of its most renowned preparatory schools, colleges, and universities[http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ/state/] (see full list of colleges and universities in Massachusetts). Eight Boston-area institutions (Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Tufts, and UMass/Boston) are recognized research universities; in the eyes of many they became engines of economic growth following World War II, and currently contribute $7 billion annually to the local economy [http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2003/econimpact.html]. The population of metropolitan Boston surges noticeably during the school year due to the concentration of colleges and universities in the area (see list of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston).

Prominent colleges and universities

According to U.S. News & World Report, five of the nation's top-50 national universities are located in Massachusetts: Boston College, Brandeis University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University. Massachusetts is also home to six of the nation's top-50 liberal arts colleges : Amherst College, College of the Holy Cross, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Wellesley College and Williams College.

Public schools

Massachusetts is known for having one of the best public school systems in the nation. It has one of the lowest high-school dropout rates in the nation and is tied with New Jersey for having the 2nd highest percentage of students who go on to college after high-school. It is also one of the highest scoring states on advanced placement tests.

Professional sports

- Baseball
- Boston Red Sox
- Cape Cod Baseball League
- Lowell Spinners
- North Shore Spirit
- Brockton Rox
- Worcester Tornadoes
- Basketball
- Boston Celtics
- Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield)
- Football
- New England Patriots
- Hockey
- Boston Bruins
- Lowell Lock Monsters
- Springfield Falcons
- Lacrosse
- Boston Cannons
- Soccer
- New England Revolution
- Western Mass Pioneers
- Volleyball
- Volleyball Hall of Fame (Holyoke)

Trivia

The Commonwealth's nickname is the Bay State. Other nicknames are the Old Colony State, and less commonly the Puritan state and the Baked Bean state. On December 18, 1990, the Legislature decided that the people of the Commonwealth would be designated as Bay Staters. The United States Postal Service abbreviation for Massachusetts is MA and its traditional abbreviation is Mass. Seven ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Massachusetts in honor of this state. When the Governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the office of Governor remains vacant (for the rest of the 4 year term), the Lieutenant Governor doesn't succeed, only decharges powers & duties as Acting Governor (for rest of the 4 year term).

References

- Bond, C. Lawrence, Native Names of New England Towns and Villages Translating 145 Names Derived from Native American Words, privately published by Bond, Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1991

External links

- [http://www.state.ma.us State web site]
- [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/massachusetts.html Maps of Massachusetts]
- [http://obit.obitlinkspage.com/ma.htm Massachusetts Obituary Links Page]
- [http://www.genealogybuff.com/ma GenealogyBuff.com - Massachusetts Library of Files]
- [http://newenglandtowns.org/massachusetts Historic descriptions of Massachusetts cities, towns, mountains, lakes, and rivers]
- Category:States of the United States ko:매사추세츠 주 ja:マサチューセッツ州 th:มลรัฐแมสซาชูเซตส์

Massachusetts Route 10

Massachusetts Route 10 is a two lane, north-south highway through the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts, running from Southwick in the south to Northfield in the north. 010

Carroll, New Hampshire

Carroll is a town located in Coos County, New Hampshire. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 663. The two largest villages are Twin Mountain and Bretton Woods. Twin Mountain, which has a small airstrip, is primarily a summer and winter resort town located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 3 from Franconia and U.S. Highway 302 from Bethleham. Bretton Woods is a year-round recreational and resort area on Highway 302 southeast toward Hart's Location. State Route 115 leads from Carroll to Jefferson, with scenic views of Whitefield, Lancaster and the northern White Mountains. Carroll is an important access point for the surrounding recreational areas, including many 4,000-footers, the Zealand River area, the Lincoln Woods Scenic Area, the Presidential Range, and the Presidential Dry River Wilderness. On the 1816 Carrigain map of New Hampshire, Carroll is known as "Breton Woods."

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 130.0 km² (50.2 mi²). 130.0 km² (50.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.06% water. A substantial portion of the town is part of the White Mountain National Forest, including Cherry Mountain (Mount Martha, 3,554 feet, which is traversed by the Cohos Trail), and part of the Dartmouth Range. The southeast corner of town boasts the Mount Washington Hotel and Crawford Notch State Park. The Ammonoosuc River rises at the confluence of several brooks and runs generally along Highway 302 through town. The Saco River rises in Crawford Notch and runs south-southeast to the Maine coast.

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there are 663 people, 279 households, and 189 families residing in the town. The population density is 5.1/km² (13.2/mi²). There are 740 housing units at an average density of 5.7/km² (14.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 98.79% White, 0.00% African American, 0.00% Native American, 0.75% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.15% from other races, and 0.30% from two or more races. 0.60% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 279 households out of which 24.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% are married couples living together, 7.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% are non-families. 25.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.34 and the average family size is 2.76. In the town the population is spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 43 years. For every 100 females there are 103.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 107.9 males. The median income for a household in the town is $39,286, and the median income for a family is $45,227. Males have a median income of $27,426 versus $20,781 for females. The per capita income for the town is $18,734. 6.9% of the population and 3.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 4.8% of those under the age of 18 and 12.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. Category:Coos County, New Hampshire Category:Towns in New Hampshire

U.S. Highway 302

U.S. Highway 302 is a spur of U.S. Highway 2. It currently runs 171 miles (275 km) from Portland, Maine at U.S. Highway 1 to Montpelier, Vermont at U.S. Highway 2. It passes through the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Interstate 89

Interstate 89 is an interstate highway in the New England portion of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with Interstate 93 in Bow, New Hampshire; its northern terminus is near Highgate Springs, Vermont at the Canadian border. While short, and traveling only through two New England states, its route cutting through the White and Green Mountain ranges of the Appalachians makes it one of the more scenic of the entire interstate highway system.

Length

Major cities along the route

- Concord, New Hampshire
- Lebanon, New Hampshire
- Montpelier, Vermont
- Burlington, Vermont

Intersections with other Interstates

- Interstate 93 at Bow, New Hampshire
- Interstate 91 at White River Junction, Vermont

Spur routes

- Burlington, Vermont - I-189

Notes

- Interstate 289 was originally slated to go around Burlington, but it was never completed. A section of the highway is signed as VT 289.
- I-89 continues into Quebec as PQ Provincial Highway 133, the only instance that an interstate connecting to that Canadian province does not become an Autoroute. However, Autoroute 35 will be extended in the next few years, creating a freeway-to-freeway connection. 89 89 89

New Hampshire Route 25

__NOTOC__ New Hampshire Route 25 is an east–west state highway in New Hampshire. It runs completely across the state from Vermont to Maine. The western terminus of Route 25 is at the Vermont state line on the Connecticut River in Piermont. Where the highway crosses into Vermont it becomes VT-25. The eastern terminus of Route 25 is on the Maine state line in the town of Freedom. Where the highway crosses into Maine it becomes ME-25. Total length of Route 25 is approximately 97.3 miles (156.6 km).

Route 25A

New Hampshire Route 25A is a secondary east–west highway connecting Wentworth and Orford. It runs through the scenic, mountainous area of New Hampshire. The western terminus of Route 25A is at the Vermont state line on the Connecticut River in the town of Orford. In Vermont the road ends at the junction with US-5. The eastern terminus of Route 25A is in the town of Wentworth at the junction with Route 25/Route 118. Total length of the highway is approximately 15 miles (24.2 km). Governor Meldrim Thomson Scenic Highway. In 2002, the state designated most of Route 25A as the Governor Meldrim Thomson Scenic Highway. This named highway runs from Wentworth to the junction with Route 10 in Orford. The road was named in honor of the late Gov. Meldrim Thomson, Jr., who died April 19, 2001. Thomson's Mt. Cube Farm lined both sides of the highway.

Route 25B

New Hampshire Route 25B is a short east–west secondary highway in the town of Center Harbor in the Lakes Region. It provides a shortcut between two segments of Route 25 where it loops to the south and back north again. The local name of Route 25B is Plymouth Street. The road splits off from Route 25 at the center of the town of Center Harbor, runs nearly due west for 3.2 miles (5.1 km), skirting the southern rim of Squam Lake, and rejoins Route 25 again.

Route 25C

New Hampshire Route 25C is a secondary east–west highway that runs through the scenic, mountainous area connecting Warren and Piermont. On its route it provides access to Lake Tarleton and Lake Armington. Its western terminus is in Piermont at the junction with Route 25/Route 10. Its eastern terminus is in Warren at the junction with Route 25/Route 118. Total length of the highway is approximately 13.2 miles (21.2 km).

New Hampshire Route 9

New Hampshire Route 9 is an east–west highway across the southern part of New Hampshire, through Keene, Concord and Dover. It merges with US-202 in two places on its route across the state. The western terminus of Route 9 is on the Vermont state line at the Connecticut River, across the river from Brattleboro, Vermont. The eastern terminus is at the Maine state line on the Piscataqua River in the town of Somersworth. In Maine the highway becomes ME-9. Total length of the highway is approximately 111 miles (179 km). ME-9

Route 9A

New Hampshire Route 9A is a short secondary road in Chesterfield. It splits off from Route 9, runs past the shore of Lake Spofford for 2.6 miles (4.2 km), and then joins Route 9 again.

Hanover, New Hampshire

Located on the Connecticut River in the state of New Hampshire, United States, Hanover has a population of 10,850. It best known as the home of Dartmouth College. Hanover borders the towns of Lyme, Canaan, Enfield, and Norwich, Vermont, as well as the city of Lebanon. Norwich and Hanover share the first and one of the few inter-state school districts in the nation. Norwich and Hanover are two of the small number of towns that travellers must pass through while hiking the Appalachian trail. Hanover is also the home of the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL).

History

Prior to its incarnation as Hanover, the town was known as Dresden. In the late 18th century, Dresden was one of a group of neighboring New Hampshire towns that briefly defected to Vermont, when the Republic of Vermont was an independent nation. This status was short-lived, however, as New Hampshire threatened the Republic of Vermont with war, with the aid of the other 12 states, if the towns were not returned. As a result, Vermont rejected the towns' defections, and they were returned to New Hampshire in the US. As an interesting historical note, the name "Dresden" is still used in the Dresden School District, an interstate school district serving both Hanover and Norwich, Vermont. Since 1769, the town has been home to Dartmouth College.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 130.0 km² (50.2 mi²). 127.1 km² (49.1 mi²) of it is land and 2.9 km² (1.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 2.23% water. The town is located in Grafton County, New Hampshire. The tap water of Hanover is supplied by several local reservoirs. Unfortunately, the town has made little effort to continually improve its municipal utilities, (the majority of the town's waterpipes, for instance, are over a hundred years old and made of clay.) and as a result, the tap water frequently smells of fish and is often a pale shade of brown. Despite the unpleasant taste, odor and appearance of the water, city officials continually remind tourists and locals alike that Hanover’s tap water is potable.

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there are 10,850 people, 2,832 households, and 1,761 families residing in the town. The population density is 85.3/km² (221.0/mi²). There are 2,989 housing units at an average density of 23.5/km² (60.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 87.98% White, 1.74% Black or African American, 0.47% Native American, 6.76% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 2.09% from two or more races. 2.54% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 2,832 households out of which 31.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% are married couples living together, 4.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% are non-families. 25.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.47 and the average family size is 2.96. In the town the population is spread out with 15.1% under the age of 18, 37.6% from 18 to 24, 16.6% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 23 years. For every 100 females there are 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.5 males. The median income for a household in the town is $72,470, and the median income for a family is $99,158. Males have a median income of $63,409 versus $35,771 for females. The per capita income for the town is $30,393. 9.1% of the population and 0.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 0.0% of those under the age of 18 and 3.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. See also: Hanover (CDP), New Hampshire

External links

- [http://www.hanovernh.org/ Town of Hanover]
- [http://www.dartmouth.edu Dartmouth College]
- [http://www.hanoverconservationcouncil.org/about.html Hanover Conservation Commission]
- [http://www.uvlt.org Upper Valley Land Trust]
- [http://www.uvtrails.org Upper Valley Trails Alliance]
- [http://www.uvscene.com uvScene: a community blog for the Upper Valley of NH/VT] Category:Towns in New Hampshire Category:Grafton County, New Hampshire Category:University towns

Vermont

:This article is about the U.S. state. For other meanings, see Vermont (disambiguation). Vermont is a U.S. state located in New England. The state ranks 43rd in land area (9,250 square miles), and its population (608,827) ranks as the second smallest of the fifty states. As the only New England state with no coastline along the Atlantic Ocean, Vermont is noted mainly for the Green Mountains in the west and Lake Champlain in the northwest. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Originally inhabited by Native American tribes (Iroquois, Algonquian and Abenaki), the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by France but became a British possession after France's defeat in the French and Indian War. For many years, rightful control of the area was disputed by the surrounding colonies. Settlers who held land titles granted by the Province of New Hampshire, through their Green Mountain Boys militia, eventually prevailed. Vermont became the 14th state to join the United States, following a 14-year period during and after the Revolutionary War as the independent Republic of Vermont. Famous for its scenery, dairy products and maple syrup, Vermont has long been known for its liberal politics and staunchly independent political thinking. The state capital is Montpelier, while the largest city is Burlington.

Geography

Burlington to the north, and two border Massachusetts in the south. In the west is New York and in the east is New Hampshire, each bordered by five counties. Only two of Vermont's counties—Lamoille and Washington—are entirely surrounded by Vermont territory.]] Vermont is located in the New England region in the eastern United States and comprises 9615 square miles (24,902 km²), making it the 45th largest state. Of this, land comprises 9249 square miles (23,955 km²) and water comprises 366 square miles (948 km²), making it the 43rd largest in land area and the 47th in water area. The west bank of the Connecticut River marks the eastern border of the state with New Hampshire (the river itself is part of New Hampshire). Lake Champlain, the major lake in Vermont, is the sixth-largest body of fresh water in the United States and separates Vermont from New York and Canada in the northwest portion of the state. From north to south, Vermont is 159 miles (256 km). Its greatest width, from east to west, is 89 miles (143 km) at the Canadian border; the narrowest width is 37 miles (60 km) at the Massachusetts line. The state's geographic center is Washington, three miles (5 km) east of Roxbury. The Green Mountains, (In French: Verts monts) so named because of the predominance of mica-quartz-chlorite schist, a green hued metamorphosed shale. Their relatively low altitude allows for little timberline. The range forms a north-south spine running most of the length of the state, slightly west of its center. In the southwest portion of the state are the Taconic Mountains; the White Mountains are in the northeast. In the northwest off Lake Champlain is the fertile Champlain Valley. In the south of the valley is Lake Bomoseen. Several mountains do have timberlines: Mount Mansfield, the highest mountain in the state and Killington are two examples. About 77 percent of the state is covered by forest, the rest in meadow, uplands, lakes, ponds and swampy wetlands. Vermont is known for its brief mud season in spring followed by a cool summer and a colorful autumn, and particularly for its cold winters. The northern part of the state, including the rural northeastern section (dubbed the "Northeast Kingdom") is known for exceptionally cold winters, often averaging 10° F (6° C) colder than the southern areas of the state. Annual snowfall averages between 60 to 100 inches depending on elevation, giving Vermont some of New England's best cross-country skiing areas. In the autumn, Vermont's hills experience an explosion of red, orange and gold foliage caused by the sugar maple. That this famous display occurs so abundantly in Vermont is not due so much to the presence of a particular variant of the tree; it rather results from a number of soil and climate conditions unique to the area. The highest recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C), at Vernon on July 4, 1911; the lowest recorded temperature was -50 °F (-46 °C), at Bloomfield on December 30, 1933.

History

1933, Mount Ellen, Mount Abraham, and Camel's Hump. The lowest point in the state is Lake Champlain at 95 feet. The state's average elevation is 1,000 feet.]] Little is known of the pre-Columbian history of Vermont. The western part of the state was originally home to a small population of Algonquian-speaking tribes, including the Mohican and Abenaki peoples. Between 8500 to 7000 BCE, glacial activity created the Champlain Sea, and Native Americans inhabited and hunted in Vermont. From 7000 to 1000 BCE was the Archaic Period. During the era Native Americans migrated year-round. From 1000 BCE to 1600 CE was the Woodland Period, when villages and trade networks were established, and ceramic and bow and arrow technology was developed. Sometime between 1500 and 1600, the Iroquois drove many of the smaller native tribes out of Vermont, later using the area as a hunting ground and warring with the remaining Abenaki. The population in 1500 is estimated to be around 10,000 people. The first European to see Vermont is thought to be Jacques Cartier, in 1535. On July 30, 1609, French explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed the area of what is now Lake Champlain, giving to the mountains the appellation of les Verts Monts (the Green Mountains). France claimed Vermont as part of New France, and erected Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte in 1666 as part of their fortification of Lake Champlain. This was the first European settlement in Vermont and the site of the first Roman Catholic mass. During the later half of the 17th century, non-French settlers began to explore Vermont and its surrounding area. In 1690, a group of Dutch-British settlers from Albany under Captain Jacobus de Warm established the De Warm Stockade at Chimney Point (eight miles or 13 km west of present-day Addison). This settlement and trading post was directly across Lake Champlain from Crown Point, New York (Pointe à la Chevelure). In 1731, the French arrived. Here they constructed a small temporary wooden stockade (Fort de Pieux) on what was Chimney Point until work on Fort St. Frédéric began in 1734. The fort, when completed, gave the French control of the New France/Vermont border region in the Lake Champlain Valley and was the only permanent fort in the area until the building of Fort Carillon more than 20 years later. The government encouraged French colonization, leading to the development of small French settlements in the valley. The British attempted to take the Fort St. Frédéric four times between 1755 and 1758; in 1759 a combined force of 12,000 British regular and provincial troops under Sir Jeffrey Amherst captured the fort. The French were driven out of the area and retreated to other forts along the Richelieu River. One year later a group of Mohawks burnt the settlement to the ground, leaving only chimneys and giving the area its name. The first permanent British settlement was established in 1724 with the construction of Fort Dummer in Vermont's far southeast under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight. This fort protected the nearby settlements of Dummerston and Brattleboro in the surrounding area. These settlements were made by the Province of Massachusetts Bay to protect its settlers on the western border along the Connecticut River. The second British settlement was the 1761 founding of Bennington in the southwest. During the French and Indian War, some Vermont settlers, including Ethan Allen, joined the colonial militia assisting the British in attacks on the French. Fort Carillon on the New York-Vermont border, a French fort constructed in 1755, was the site of two British offensives under Lord Amherst's command: the unsuccessful British attack in 1758 and the retaking of the following year with no major resistance (most of the garrison had been removed to defend Quebec, Montreal, and the western forts). The British renamed the fort Fort Ticonderoga (which became the site of two later battles during the American Revolutionary War). Following France's loss in the French and Indian War, the 1763 Treaty of Paris gave control of the land to the British. The end of the war brought new settlers to Vermont. A fort at Crown Point had been built, and the Crown Point Military Road stretched from the east to the west of the Vermont wilderness from Springfield to Chimney Point, making traveling from the neighboring British colonies easier than ever before. Three colonies laid claim to the area. The Province of Massachusetts Bay claimed the land on the basis of the 1629 charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Province of New York claimed Vermont based on land granted to the Duke of York (later King James II) in 1764. The Province of New Hampshire also claimed Vermont based upon a decree of George II in 1740. In 1741, George II ruled that Massachusetts's claims in Vermont and New Hampshire were invalid and fixed Massachusetts's northern boundary at its present location. This still left New Hampshire and New York with conflicting claims to the land. 1741The situation resulted in the New Hampshire Grants, a series of 135 land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by New Hampshire's colonial governor, Benning Wentworth. The grants sparked a dispute with the New York governor, who began granting charters of his own for New Yorker settlement in Vermont. In 1770, Ethan Allen—along with his brothers Ira and Levi, as well as Seth Warner—recruited an informal militia, the Green Mountain Boys, to protect the interests of the original New Hampshire settlers against the new migrants from New York. When a New York judge arrived in Westminster with New York settlers in March 1775, violence broke out as angry citizens took over the courthouse and called a sheriff's posse. This resulted in the deaths of Daniel Houghton and William French in the "Westminster Massacre." On January 18, 1777, representatives of the New Hampshire Grants convened in Westminster and declared the independence of the Vermont Republic. For the first six months of the republic's existence, the republic was called New Connecticut. On June 2, a second convention of 72 delegates met at Westminster, known as the "Westminster Convention." At this meeting, the delegates adopted the name "Vermont" on the suggestion of Dr. Thomas Young of Philadelphia, a supporter of the delegates who wrote a letter advising them on how to achieve admission into the newly independent United States as the 14th state. The delegates set the time for a meeting one month later. On July 4, the Constitution of Vermont was drafted during a violent thunderstorm at the Windsor Tavern owned by Elijah West, and was adopted by the delegates on July 8 after four days of debate. This was among the first written constitutions in North America and was indisputably the first to abolish the institution of slavery, provide for universal manhood suffrage and require support of public schools. The Windsor tavern has been preserved as the Old Constitution House, administered as a state historic site. The Battle of Bennington, fought on August 16, 1777, was a seminal event in the history of the state of Vermont. The nascent republican government, created after years of political turmoil, faced challanges from New York, New Hampshire, Great Britain and the new United States, none of which recognized its sovereignty. The republic's ability to defeat a powerful military invader gave it a legitimacy among its scattered frontier society that would sustain it through fourteen years of fragile independence before it finally achieved statehood as the 14th state in the union in 1791. During the summer of 1777 the invading British army of General Burgoyne slashed southward from Canada to the Hudson River, captured the strategic stonghold of Fort Ticonderoga, and drove the continentel army into a desperate southward retreat. Raiding parties of British soldiers and native warriors freely attacked, pillaged and burned the frontier communities of the Champlain Valley and threatened all settlements to the south. The Vermont frontier collapsed in the face of the British invasion. The New Hampshire legislature, fearing an invasion to the east, mobilized the state's militia under the command of General John Stark. General Burgoyne received intelligence that large stores of horses, food and munitions were kept at Bennington, then the largest community in the Grants. He dispatched 2,600 men, nearly a third of his army, to seize the colonial storehouse there, unaware that General Stark's New Hampshire troops were then traversing the Green Mountains to join up at Bennington with the Vermont continental regiments commanded by Colonel Seth Warner, together with the local Vermont and western Massachusetts militia. The combined American forces, under Stark's command, attacked the British column at Hoosik, New York, just across the border from Bennington. The American troops were defending their homes, families and property. General Stark reportedly challenged his men to fight to the death, telling them that: "There are your enemies. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" In a desperate, all-day battle fought in intense summer heat, the army of yankee farmers killed or captured virtually the entire British detachment. General Burgoyne never recovered from this loss and eventually surrendered the remainder of his 6000-man force at Saratoga, New York on October 17. The Battles of Bennington and Saratoga are recognized as the turning point in the Revolutionary War because they were the first major defeat of a British army and convinced the French that the Americans were worthy of military aid. Stark became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington" and the anniversary of the battle is still celebrated in Vermont as a legal holiday known as "Bennington Battle Day." Under the portico of the Vermont Statehouse, next to an heroic granite statue of Ethan Allen, there is a brass cannon that was captured from the British troops at the Battle of Bennington. Vermont continued to govern itself as a sovereign entity based in the eastern town of Windsor for 14 years. Thomas Chittenden, who came to Vermont from Connecticut in 1774, acted as President of Vermont from 1778 to 1789 and from 1790 to 1791. In 1791, Vermont joined the Union as the 14th member–the first state to enter the union after the original 13 colonies, and a counterweight to Kentucky, which was admitted to the Union shortly afterward. Kentucky of the Vermont State House (Capitol building) in Montpelier is visible for many miles around the city. The Capitol building is in the Greek Revival architectural style and was completed in 1859. It is built of Barre granite from the famous quarries in the nearby town of Barre, and has a portico with columns in the Doric style. Montpelier became the state capital in 1805.]] Vermont had a unicameral legislature until 1836. The northernmost land action of the American Civil War took place in Vermont on October 19, 1864. In this incident, one of the most unusual in American history, Bennett H. Young led Confederate forces. Young had been captured in John Hunt Morgan's 1863 raid in Ohio, but escaped to Canada in the fall of that year. Morgan went to the south, where he proposed Canada-based raids on the Union as a means of building the Confederate treasury and forcing the Union army to protect their northern border as a diversion. Young was commissioned as a Lieutenant and returned to Canada, where he recruited other escaped rebels to participate in the October 19, 1864 raid on St. Albans, Vermont, a quiet town 15 miles (25 km) from the Canadian border. Young and two others checked into a local hotel on October 10, saying that they had come from St. John's in Canada for a "sporting vacation." Every day, two or three more young men arrived. By October 19, there was 21 men. Just before 3:00 p.m., the group simultaneously staged an armed robbery of the three banks in the town. They announced that they were Confederate soldiers and stole a total of $208,000. As the banks were being robbed, eight or nine of the Confederates held the townspeople prisoner on the village green as their horses were stolen. One townsperson was killed and another wounded. Young ordered his troops to burn the town down, but the four-ounce bottles of Greek fire they had brought failed to work. Vermont also sent over 30,000 men into the service of the Union Army, of which some one out of three did not return, a higher proportion of men sent and lost than any other state. The most famous Vermont unit was the hard-fighting First Vermont Brigade. This unit remains the hardest-fighting brigade in the history of the United States military. The first election in which women were allowed to vote was on December 18, 1880, when women were granted limited suffrage and were allowed to vote in school board elections. Large-scale flooding occurred in early November 1927. During this incident, 85 people died, 84 of them in Vermont. Another flood occurred in 1973, when the flood caused the death of two people and millions of dollars in property damage.

Law and government

Politics

Vermonters are known for their political independence and liberal views. The Vermont government maintains a proactive stance with regards to the environment, social services and prevention of urbanization. For example, facing severe pressures from out-of-state real estate developers, the state passed the Land Use and Development Law (Act 250) in 1970. The law, which was the first of its kind in the nation, created nine District Environmental Commissions consisting of private citizens who have the power to approve/disapprove land development and subdivision plans that would have a significant impact on the state's environment and many small communities. Another case involves the recent controversy over the adoption of civil unions, an institution which grants same-sex couples nearly all the rights and privileges of marriage. In Baker v. Vermont (1999) the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that, under the Constitution of Vermont, the state must either allow same-sex marriage or provide a separate but equal status for them. The state legislature chose the second option by creating the institution of civil union; the bill was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Howard Dean. At the same time, Vermont is one of only two states in the Union to allow any adult to carry a concealed firearm without any sort of permit, showing that the state's politics cannot be easily pigeonholed. Vermont is the home state of the only two current members of the United States Congress who do not associate themselves with a political party: Representative Bernie Sanders and Senator Jim Jeffords. Attempts by out-of-state candidates (so called "flatlanders") to be elected to office in Vermont have often been thwarted by locals. In 1998, a 79-year-old farmer named Fred Tuttle won national attention by defeating a Massachusetts multimillionaire in the Republican Primary for Senate. With a campaign budget of $201, Tuttle garnered 55 percent of the primary vote, then promptly announced his support for the Democratic incumbent, Patrick Leahy. The irony was that Fred had starred as himself in the Vermont-produced film, "A Man With A Plan", which depicted him winning a shoestring-funded election to Congress. Republicans dominated Vermont politics from the party's founding in 1854 until the 1980s. Vermont was one of two states (with Maine) to vote for Republican Alf Landon over President Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. In the early 1960s many progressive Vermont Republicans and newcomers to the state helped bolster the State's then-small Democratic Party. Until 1992, Vermont had only supported a Democrat for president once since the Civil War—in Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide victory. In 1992, it supported Democrat Bill Clinton for president and has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since then. Vermont gave John Kerry his fourth largest margin of victory in 2004. He won the state's popular vote by 20 percentage points over incumbent George W. Bush, taking almost 59 percent of the vote. Essex County in the state's northeastern section was the only county to vote for Bush. The Vermont Progressive Party is a small, left-wing political party created in the early 1980s and has held a handful of seats in the Vermont legislature for two decades and is affiliated with Vermont's lone congressman, Bernie Sanders; it has had official recognition as a political party by the state government since 1999. Vermont is the birthplace of former presidents Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur. The age of consent in Vermont is 16. Vermont abolished the death penalty in 1964. The last state execution was carried out in 1954. A major political issue for some years has been taxation and education funding. The town of Killington is currently trying to secede from Vermont and join New Hampshire due to what the locals say is an unfair tax burden.

State government

State Constitution

Provision is made for the following governing institutions under the Constitution of the State of Vermont:

Executive branch

Vermonters independently elect a state Governor and Lieutenant Governor every two years (as opposed to every four years, which is the most common term length for a governor of a U.S. state). The current governor of Vermont is Jim Douglas, who assumed office in 2003. Unlike some states, Vermont does not have a term limit for the governor.

Legislative branch

The Vermont's state legislature is the Vermont General Assembly, a bicameral body composed of the Vermont House of Representatives (the lower house) and the Vermont Senate (the upper house). The Senate is composed of 30 state senators, while the House of Representatives has 150 members. Like the governor, members of the General Assembly serve two-year terms.

Judicial branch

The Vermont Supreme Court is the state supreme court, made up of five justices who served six year terms. Superior courts in the state are made up of eight judges serving a term of six years. Appointments to the state supreme court, superior court, and district courts are made by the governor and approved by the General Assembly. Judges on lower courts are elected on a partisan ballot.

Federal representation

In the U.S. Senate, Vermont is represented by Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, and Senator James Jeffords, an independent. Jeffords was a former Republican but left the party in 2001 as a result of political disagreements and now caucuses with the Democrats. Unusually, like its neighbor New Hampshire, Vermont tends to elect more independents than other states; in the U.S. House of Representatives, Vermont's single at-large congressional district is represented by Bernard Sanders, an independent representative and socialist who served as the mayor of Burlington. Among Vermont's distinguished public servants, U.S. Sen. Winston Prouty (R) gained national prominence as an early critic of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Upon his departure from the Republican Party, Senator Jeffords cited the late Sen. Winston Prouty (R), who hailed from Vermont's most prominent political family, for the latter's legendary spirit of independence.

Culture

Winston Prouty of Vermont's Lake Champlain.]] Vermont has many festivals, including the Vermont Maple Festival, the Enosburg Falls Dairy Festival, the Marlboro Music Festival, and the Mozart Festival. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is supported by the state and performs throughout the area. The Poetry Society of Vermont publishes a literary magazine called The Green Mountain Troubadore which encourages submissions from members of various ages. Every year they hold various contests - one being for high school age young people. The Brattleboro-based Vermont Theatre Company presents an annual summer Shakespeare festival. Brattleboro also hosts the summertime Strolling of the Heifers parade which celebrates Vermont's unique dairy culture. In the Northeast Kingdom, The Bread and Puppet Theatre holds weekly shows in Glover in a natural outdoor amphitheater. No major professional sports teams are based in Vermont. The largest professional franchise is the Vermont Lake Monsters, a single-A minor league baseball team based in Burlington. Vermont was the last state to get a Wal-Mart, and it remains the only state without a McDonald's restaurant within the city limits of the capital (not for lack of effort on the part of McD's).

Economy

Over the past two centuries, Vermont has seen both population explosions and population busts. First settled by farmers, loggers and hunters, Vermont lost much of its population as farmers moved West into the Great Plains in search of abundant, easily tilled land. Logging similarly fell off as over-cutting and the exploitation of other forests made Vermont's forest less attractive. Although these population shifts devastated Vermont's economy, the early loss of population had the beneficial effect of allowing Vermont's land and forest to recover from the excesses of human beings. The accompanying lack of industry has allowed Vermont to avoid many of the ill-effects of 20th century industrial busts, effects that still plague neighboring states. Today, much of Vermont's forest consists of second-growth. Of the remaining industries, dairy farming is the primary source of agricultural income. A unique part of Vermont's economy is the manufacture and sale of novelty goods and foods for cottage industries and niche markets. Examples of these are such exports as Cabot Cheese, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Burton Snowboards, King Arthur Flour, and Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. Captive insurance plays an increasingly large role in Vermont's economy. With this form of alternative insurance, large corporations or industry associations form standalone insurance companies to insure their own risks, thereby substantially reducing their insurance premiums and gaining a significant measure of control over types of risks to be covered. There are also significant tax advantages to be gained from the formation and operation of captive insurance companies. According to the Insurance Information Institute, Vermont in 2004 was the world's third-largest domicile for captive insurance companies, following Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Tourism is the state's largest industry. In the winter world famous ski resorts like Stowe, Killington, Stratton Jay and Okemo draw skiers from around the globe, although their largest markets are Boston, Montreal and the New York metropolitan area. In the summer resort towns like Stowe, Manchester and Woodstock draw visitors looking for a mountain vacation. Resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions employ many people year-round. Numerous summer camps and furniture- make up a component of Vermont's income. Trout fishing, lake fishing and even ice fishing draw the outdoorsman to the state as does the excellent hiking on the Long Trail. Several noteworthy horse shows are annual events. Golf courses are springing up with spas to service the weary client. One major fashion outlet mall isn't really a mall but the old town of Manchester gentrified. The towns of Rutland and Barre are the traditional centers of marble quarrying and marble shaping in the USA. For many years Vermont was also the headquarters of the smallest union in the USA, the Stonecutters Association, of about 500 members. In recent years, Vermont has been deluged with plans to build condos and houses on what was relatively inexpensive, untouched land. Vermont's government has responded with a series of laws controlling development and with some pioneering initiatives to prevent the loss of Vermont's dairy industry. In 2001, Vermont produced 1,040,000 liters of maple syrup, about a quarter of the U.S. production.

Demographics

Population

The U.S. Census Bureau reports Vermont's 2000 population as 608,827, and estimates its 2004 population as 621,394.

Race and Sex

Vermont's population is:
- 96.2% White
- 0.9% Asian
- 0.9% Hispanic
- 0.5% Black
- 0.4% Native American
- 1.2% Mixed race and:
- 51.0% female
- 49.0% male

Rankings

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Vermont ranks:
- 1st in its proportion of Whites
- 41st in its proportion of Asians
- 49th in its proportion of Hispanics
- 48th in its proportion of Blacks
- 29th in its proportion of Native Americans
- 39th in its proportion of people of mixed race
- 28th in its proportion of males
- 24th in its proportion of females

Ethnicity

The five largest ancestry groups are:
- 18.4% English
- 16.4% Irish
- 14.5% French
- 9.1% German
- 8.8% French-Canadian Residents of British ancestry (especially English) live throughout most of Vermont. The northern part of the state is inhabited principally by people of French (including French-Canadian and Quebecois) ancestry.

Religion

Like many of the neighboring states, Vermont's largest religious affiliation in the colonial period was Congregationalism. In 1776, 63 percent of affiliated church members in Vermont were Congregationalists. At the time, however, most settlers were not church members, because much of the land was wilderness. Only 9 percent of people belonged to a church at the time. The Congregational United Church of Christ remains the largest Protestant denomination and Vermont has the largest percentage of this denomination of any state. Today about three-fourths of Vermont residents identify themselves as Christians. The largest single religious body in the state is the Roman Catholic Church. A Catholic Church survey in 1990 reported that 25% of Vermonters were members of the Catholic Church, although more than that self-identify as Catholics. Overall, Vermont's current religious distribution is:
- Christian – 74%
- Roman Catholic – 39%
- Protestant – 34%
- Congregational/United Church of Christ – 7%
- Methodist – 7%
- Episcopal – 5%
- Baptist – 3%
- Other Protestant – 12%
- Other Christian – 1%
- Jewish – 1%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious – 24% More than one-third of Vermonters are self-identified Protestants. The largest Protestant denomination in the state is the United Church of Christ,