WORLD Fall Guide 2022

Classic Images of Vermont
When you think classic Vermont, what comes to mind? Is it a combination of green rolling mountains,
Holstein cows, maple syrup, and covered bridges? These iconic images may be romantic, but there’s more
to the story than what you might find on a postca d.
By Katie Moritz
For example, ask someone from New Jersey and the Green
Mountains are just that: green mountains. But ask someone from
New Hampshire, and they may laugh and call them the “Green
Hills” (they’ve been spoiled by the White Mountains, we cannot
blame them entirely). But did you know that the rocks found here
are possibly some of the oldest in the world? They were formed
around 400 million years ago, when the Iapetus Ocean closed
up (this would later become the Atlantic Ocean) and continents
came together to create the super continent, Pangea.
As for Holstein cows, did you that when you drive by a farm and
you see cows grazing, each one contributes over $12,000 to the
state? According to a study funded by the Vermont Dairy
Promotion Council, the dairy industry brings in 2.2 billion dollars
of economic activity each year. And 63% of new milk comes from
Vermont. Did you also know that this industry is responsible for
somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs? When polled for the
study, 92% of Vermonters responded that dairy farms added to
the beauty of the state and 97% responded that dairy farms
were important.
As for that delicious maple syrup, it’s more than an awesome
way to doctor up some pancakes. It’s estimated that 25% of the
trees in the state are maple, and that the maple sugar industry
brings in around 15 million dollars in sales every year. But did
you also know that in 2010, researchers discovered that you don’t
necessarily need the top of the tree to produce sap? And that sap
does not need to flow downward? This could mean that rather than
trekking off into the woods to tap mature trees, grown wide with
thick branches, sugar makers could technically grow neat compact
rows of young trees and still produce syrup. The question then
becomes: is that really how we want to gather our sap?
I’m willing to bet some Vermonters will say no. Because it’s not
just about getting the job done.
For example, according to the 2005 Covered Bridge Manual, a
publication by the Federal Highway Administration, the only real
reason a covered bridge is, well, covered, is to preserve the
wooden parts from rot and deterioration. In the book, “Spanning
Time,” Timothy Palmer, one of the first American bridge builders
to put roofs on bridges, believed that covering them helped them
last for up to forty years. Hence, covering the bridge preserved it
so that people and animals could cross. It got the job done.
But is it not without note that the construction of the covered
bridge may have kept animals from being spooked when crossing,
for they would think they were entering a barn, and not
passing over furious waters. Or, an even more romantic a notion:
that weary travelers could rest for a moment when the weather
turned difficult.
Therefore, maybe covered bridges are so iconic because they
remind us that it’s not always about the destination, but the
journey.
There are just over 100 authentic covered bridges in the
state of Vermont, giving the state the highest number of
covered bridges per square mile in the United States.
CALEDONIA COUNTY
NAME TOWN LOCATION
Greenbanks Hollow Danville Joe’s Brook on Greenbanks Hollow Road
LAMOILLE COUNTY
NAME TOWN LOCATION
Emily’s Stowe Gold Brook on Covered Bridge Road
Fisher Railroad Wolcott Lamoille River on Railroad line
ORANGE COUNTY
NAME TOWN LOCATION
Moxley Chelsea First Branch of White River on Moxley Road
Kingsbury Randolph Second Branch of White River on Kingsbury Road
Gifford
Randolph Second Branch of White River on Hyde Road
Braley
Randolph Second Branch of White River on Braley Covered
Bridge Road
Union Village Thetford Ompompanoosuc River on Academy Road
Sayres Thetford Ompompanoosuc River on Tucker Hill Road
Howe
Tunbridge First Branch of White River on Belnap Brook Road
Cilley
Tunbridge First Branch of White River on Howe Lane
Mill
Tunbridge First Branch of White River on Spring Road
Larkin
Tunbridge First Branch of White River on Larkin Road
Flint
Tunbridge First Branch of White River on Bicknell Hill Road
WASHINGTON COUNTY
NAME TOWN LOCATION
Coburn
E. Montpelier Winooski River on Coburn Road
Orton Farm Marshfield Winooski River on a farm access road
Stony Brook Northfield Stony Brook on Stony Brook Road
Northfield Falls Northfield Dog River on Cox Brook Road
Slaughter House Northfield Dog River on Slaughterhouse Road
Lower Cox Brook Northfield Cox Brook on Cox Brook Road
Upper Cox Brook Northfield Cox Brook on Cox Brook Road
Pine Brook Waitsfield Pine Brook on North Road
Great Eddy Waitsfield Mad River on Bridge Street
Warren Warren Mad River on Covered Bridge Road
18 The WORLD ~ Fall Guide 2022