"Les monts verts" is French for "the green mountains". Vermont's name is derived from this phrase. New Hampshire and New York both claimed this territory. In January 1777 Vermont declared themselves a independent republic. In 1791 it became the first state to join the thirteen original colonies.
This is the third state house built in Montpelier; it was completed in 1859.
The statue on top of the dome is titled Agriculture though more commonly referred to as Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture. This is a copy of the original; it was carved in 1938 by 87-year old Dwight Dwinell, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the State House.
The House of Representatives have 150 members. There are 66 representative districts that choose one member; 42 districts elect two representatives. The 42 districts with two representatives are basically twice the population as the other districts.
The Senate consists of 30 members; the senators are elected from 13 multi-member districts.
This is a ceremonial office used during the legislative session. The governor's working office is located in the Pavilion in Montpelier.
This bust of Abraham Lincoln, done as a study by Brattleboro-born sculptor Larkin Goldsmith Mead in preparation for the monumental statue of the martyred president for Lincoln's tomb in Spingfield, Illinois, greets visitors as they enter the Vermont State House.
William Henry Rinehart’s Backwoodsman located on the state house's second floor.
Allen is best known for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War and his leadership of the Green Mountain Boys. He was also a Deist and philosopher. Towards the end of his life he published Reason the Only Oracle of Man, rewritten from a manuscript he and Dr. Thomas Young, a Deist friend and mentor from Connecticut, had written together years earlier.
He was a member of the council of state that drew up Vermont's first request for statehood in 1777, after Vermont had declared itself an independent republic that year. When the Continental Congress rejected the request, he became governor of the republic (1778-89 and 1790-91).
After Vermont began negotiating with the British commander in Canada, the adjacent states of New York and New Hampshire settled their territorial disputes with Vermont and it was accepted as the 14th state (March 4, 1791). Chittenden served as its first governor (1791-97).
This Liberty Bell replica is located in the Vermont Historical Society Museum. "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof" has been added to the top of the bell support.
The Vermont Historical Society Museum preserves the past for use by present and future generations. It collects artifacts dating from the pre-contact period to the present for interpretation and research. Using these artifacts, items from the Society’s library, and materials loaned by individuals and institutions, it presents an exhibition on the first floor of the Pavilion Building in Montpelier.
