Vermont

The Abenaki people have lived along Vermont's rivers and Lake Champlain for thousands of years, and their presence remains woven into place names and a living cultural community today. French and English colonial rivalries brought forts and skirmishes to the Champlain Valley in the 1600s and 1700s, with Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys later becoming folk heroes of the independence era.

Vermont declared itself an independent republic in 1777, minting its own coins and issuing its own currency before joining the young United States in 1791 as the 14th state, the first added after the original thirteen. That fiercely independent streak carried through to a strong 19th-century abolitionist movement and, later, a reputation for progressive small-town politics that persists in the state today.

Maple sugaring, dairy farming and small-scale manufacturing built Vermont's rural economy, while ski resorts at Stowe and Killington, developed from the mid-20th century onward, turned the Green Mountains into a four-season destination. The state's covered bridges, sugarhouses and legendary autumn foliage now anchor a tourism economy built on preserving exactly the working landscape that shaped it.