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'Montpelier' (IPA: ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Washington County. Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, visible from the outskirts of town, which is located on State Street on the west side of downtown. The Winooski River, winooski being an Abenaki word meaning "onion," flows west along the south edge of downtown village and is fed by several smaller tributaries that cut through residential districts.

Contents

History

Features

Geography

Demographics

Transportation

Cultural pursuits

Notable residents

See Also

References

External links

History

Montpelier was chartered by the Vermont General Assembly on August 141781.^[1] Colonel Jacob Davis, among the first European settlers to establish a village there, selected the name after the French city Montpellier. The name is a contraction of ''mont'' – hill, and ''peller'' – bare or shorn.^[2] Davis had also named Calais for the French port city of the same name, it is likely that he named Montpelier for the French town of Montpellier, for there was a general enthusiasm for things French as a result of France's aid during the American Revolution.^[3]

Features

Along with Barre, the city forms a small micropolitan area in the center of the state, together they are known as the "twin cities". Montpelier is the least-populous state capital in the United States, with a population of 7,954 (July 2006 est.). It is home to the New England Culinary Institute, the annual Green Mountain Film Festival and the headquarters of several insurance companies.
Montpelier had the last remaining clothespin manufacturer in the United States. It closed in 2006. Since the city's establishment as capital in 1805 the primary business in Montpelier has been government, and by the mid nineteenth century government and liffe and fire insurance. The majority of businesses in the downtown area are locally owned. There are three national fast food chain restaurants in the city, including the Vermont based Ben & Jerry's.
Processing granite, mainly from the quarries in nearby Barre, was once a major part of the city's economy and continues to some degree; timber was a major industry in the region in the early nineteenth century. An annual local vernacular culture phenomenon, the Valentine Bandit, a tradition of covering downtown storefronts and public buildings with red hearts each February 14, began in Montpelier in the 1990s.

Geography

Montpelier is located at (44.25, -72.56667). The city center is a flat clay zone (elevation ~520 ft/158 m), surrounded by hills and granite ledges. Towne Hill runs in a 2-mile ridge (~900 ft/275 m) along the northern edge of the city. Montpelier is subject to periodic flooding in the flat city center with two major floods occurring in 1927 and 1992.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.3 square miles (26.6 km²), of which 10.2 square miles (26.5 km²) of it is land and 0.10% is water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 8,035 people, 3,739 households, and 1,940 families residing in the city, giving it the smallest population of any U.S. state capital. The population density was 784.0 people per square mile (302.7/km²). There were 3,899 housing units at an average density of 380.4 per square mile (146.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.55% White, 0.65% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.82% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 1.34% from two or more races. 1.41% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 3,739 households out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 years living with them, 38.5% were couples living together and joined in either marriage or civil union, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.1% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100 females there are 84.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,513, and the median income for a family was $51,818. Males had a median income of $35,957 versus $29,442 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,599. About 7.2% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.9% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Amtrak, the national rail passenger system, provides daily service to Montpelier and Barre, operating the Vermonter between St. Albans, Vermont and Washington, D.C. Vermont Transit, a Greyhound Lines subsidiary, operates buses that serve Montpelier. The Green Mountain Transit Authority (GMTA) operates a local bus network throughout the micropolitan area, with stops in Montpelier and Barre, including nearby Waterbury, the Vermont State House, Ben & Jerry's factory (a leading tourist attraction in Vermont), and the local Berlin Mall. GMTA and its sister bus company in Burlington, the Chittenden Country Transit Authority, operate a series of LINK commuter buses with stops in Montpelier, Burlington and Waterbury. A few small taxi companies serve the area.
The area has bicycle paths.

Cultural pursuits

A copy of the frieze from the Parthenon is kept in the Kellog-Hubbard Library.

Notable residents

★ Frederick W. Adams, noted physician and author.^[4]

★ George Dewey, admiral of the US Navy

★ William Charles Fitzgerald

★ Frank Miller, comic book writer and artist

★ Arthur E. Scott, U.S. Senate's first photo-historian

★ John Thurston, Former U.S. Senator of Nebraska

★ Samuel C. Upham, journalist

★ Patrick Leahy, U.S Senator of Vermont

See Also

★ Saint Augustine's Church, Montpelier

References

1. History
2. ''Vermont: A guide to the Green Mountain State.'', Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of Vermont., , , The Stephen Greene Press, 1996,
3. 'Vermont Place Names: Footprints of History.'', Swift, Esther Monroe., , , Houghton Mifflin, 1977,
4. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896, , , , Marquis Who's Who, ,

External links

★ Montpelier Vermont official city website

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