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Historic photographs document the history of one of Vermont's finest spots, Lake Bomoseen.

Lake Bomoseen- the largest lake entirely within Vermont's borders- once attracted thousands of visitors each year. Its resorts and restaurants welcomed travelers of all stripes, from Walt Disney and Harpo Marx to humble groups of workers and families. Crowds flocked to beaches and picnic areas during the daytime, and headliners like Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong kept the Casino at the lake buzzing late into the night. Donald H. Thompson describes these and other glamorous moments in Lake Bomoseen's past and explains how the area has evolved since the last hotels and dance halls closed their doors. Carefully researched and accompanied by dozens of rare images, this is the definitive history of one of Vermont's finest spots.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the "Manchester and the Mountains" area of Vermont was the epicenter of the fledgling sport of snowboarding. With the presence of Burton Snowboards, the U.S. Open Championships and one of the earliest machine-built halfpipes at Stratton Mountain, the local population led the vanguard as the sport ventured from the fringe to mainstream. Ranging from Olympic gold medalists to backhoe operators and converted skiers, locals contributed immensely to the development of the sport. Author Brian Knight details the birth, growth and development of a new worldwide sport from humble beginnings in southern Vermont.

A look back on the riveting history of Vermont, featuring stories from the American Revolution and the summoning of spirits.

Vermont's history is marked by fierce independence, generosity of spirit and the saga of human life along its steep slopes and fertile valleys. Meet the widow who outwitted Tories and may have spied for the Green Mountain Boys. Encounter the family who gained a national following by summoning spirits. Discover why one governor opposed women's suffrage and how that may have involved spirits of another sort. Visit an island retreat where Harpo Marx cheated at croquet and satirist Dorothy Parker wore nothing but a garden hat. Historian Mark Bushnell offers a glimpse of the Green Mountain State rarely seen.

Burlington Police Department detective Jeff Beerworth explores the nature of crime and justice in the Queen City.

As Burlington grew into a city out of wilderness, more citizens meant more opportunities for crime. Horse thefts, murders and drunken brawls swamped the young and prosperous city. Those misdeeds inspired the first officers of what would become the Burlington Police Department to serve and protect. Step behind the scenes of the Griwold murder case, the Mad Riot of 1898 and the murder of Officer James McGrath. Glimpse the dangers of police work and the shared human experiences of the city's officers and the citizens they serve.

Four years after the American Revolution, in 1787, Colonel Jacob Davis became the first to clear land in the new settlement that had been chartered as Montpelier. The name honored France for its support of the American patriots. Disasters, industries and larger-than-life personalities helped shape the city's identity. And it didn't take long for Montpelier to make a name for itself--its location created a prime manufacturing hub, and the Vermont Central Railroad made travel convenient. The city also became the scene of the fire of 1875 and the Gould-Caswell murder. Join local historian Paul Heller as he compiles significant moments of Montpelier's past.

Tucked away in the dark forests of Vermont's Northeast
Kingdom, St. Johnsbury was mostly unbroken wilderness
when first chartered in 1786. Swinging axes soon made way
for the burgeoning split-level town, with stately Main Street
homes on St. Johnsbury Plain presiding in grandeur over the
bustling commerce of Railroad Street below. Peggy Pearl brings
a decidedly human element to this comprehensive history,
wandering the graves of Mount Pleasant Cemetery and bringing
to life the stories of those tanners, cobblers, millworkers and
brick makers who made St. Johnsbury their home. With excerpts from vintage newspapers like the Caledonian-Record and the Farmer's Herald, Pearl unfolds the transformation from quiet mill town into picturesque manufacturing hub of Caledonia County.

Founded by a famously scheming New Hampshire governor, Glastenbury struggled for over a century to break triple digits in population. A small charcoal-making industry briefly flourished after the Civil War, yet by 1920 Glastenbury counted fewer than twenty inhabitants. The end came officially in 1937, when the state, following a spirited debate, formally disincorporated the town. Yet Glastenbury's legacy lives on in Tyler Resch's lively and amusing history. Follow Resch as he chronicles the community's compelling, if always precarious, existence. From mysterious murders and curious development schemes to the township's eventual annexation by the U.S. Forest Service, Glastenbury narrates the ultimately redemptive tale of a community that lost its political status, only to gain a national forest.

Once a small clearing in the woods, Montpelier today sits at the center of Vermont's civic and cultural life. Its artists, legislators, innovators and leaders have made the nation's smallest state capital a crossroads for all. Glimpse the only surviving photographs of the second State House--taken just years before it burned--and the welcome given to Admiral George Dewey, fresh from victory in the Spanish-American War, by the largest crowd the city has ever seen. Survey the wreckage of the 1927 flood, learn how Montpelier's glorious historic district came to life and follow the footsteps of presidents passing through town.
Gathered together for the first time, these timeless images show Montpelier's citizens in their grittiest, saddest, happiest and most triumphant moments.