Bennington is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

in Bennington County,

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...

, United States. It is one of two shire towns (

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

s) of the county, the other being

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 15,333. Bennington is the most populous town in southern Vermont, the second-largest town in Vermont (after

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

) and the sixth-largest municipality in the state, including the cities of Burlington,

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, and

South Burlington South Burlington is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Along with neighboring Burlington, it is a principal city of the Burlington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,292. It is home to the hea ...

. The town is home to the Bennington Battle Monument, which is the tallest human-made structure in the state of Vermont. The town has a long history of manufacturing, primarily within wood processing. The town is also recognized nationally for its

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

, and

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

History

First of the New Hampshire Grants, Bennington was chartered on January 3, 1749, by Colonial Governor

Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant and colonial administrator who served as the List of colonial governors of New Hampshire, governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. While serving as governor, W ...

and named in his honor. It was granted to William Williams and 61 others, mostly from

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsm ...

, making the town the oldest to be chartered in Vermont and outside of what is now New Hampshire, though Brattleboro had been settled earlier as a fort. The town was first settled in 1761 by four families from Hardwick and two from

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (although the county seat ...

. They were led by Capt. Samuel Robinson, who camped in the river valley on his return from the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...

. Prior to the arrival of colonists, the land belonged to the Western

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...

of the

Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet ( ...

. These peoples were indigenous to Ndakinna—also known as Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Quebec. There are three historic districts within the town today: Old Bennington, Downtown Bennington and

North Bennington North Bennington is an incorporated village in the town of Bennington in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,716 at the 2020 census. The North Bennington Historic District was added to the National Register of Hist ...

. Of these, Old Bennington is the original settlement, dating back to 1761, when Congregational Separatists arrived from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

and from Amherst and Hardwick,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. In the early 1800s, Downtown Bennington started developing, and by 1854 the county's population had reached 18,589.

Battle of Bennington

The town is known in particular for the Battle of Bennington, which took place during the Revolutionary War. Although the battle took place approximately to the west in what is now the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, an ammunition storage building located in Bennington was an important strategic target. On August 16, 1777, Gen. John Stark's 1,500-strong New Hampshire Militia defeated 800 German ( Hessian)

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes Pseudonym, also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a memb ...

, local

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

, Canadians and Indians under the command of German Lt. Col.

Friedrich Baum Friedrich Baum (1727–1777) was a German dragoon Lieutenant Colonel of Brunswick in British service during the American Revolutionary War. Baum served under another German officer, Major General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel, commanding the of t ...

. German reinforcements under the command of Lt. Col. Heinrich von Breymann looked set to reverse the outcome, but were prevented by the arrival of Seth Warner's Green Mountain Boys, the Vermont militia founded by

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and fo ...

. In 1891, the Bennington Battle Monument was opened. The monument is a stone

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

that is the tallest human-made structure in Vermont. It is a popular tourist attraction.

Geography

Bennington is located in southwestern Bennington County at . To the west is

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

; Pownal is to the south; Shaftsbury is to the north; and Woodford is to the east. Located in the southwesternmost portion of Vermont, it is geographically closer to the capital cities of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Cit ...

;

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

; and

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third larg ...

than to its own state capital, Montpelier. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the town has a total area of , of which are land and , or 0.59%, is water. Bennington is drained by the

Walloomsac River The Walloomsac River () from the Native American name, Wal-loom-sac is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 tributary of the Hoosic River in the northeastern ...

and its tributaries, flowing to the Hoosic and then the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

. The town is located along the western edge of the

Green Mountains The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Quebec, Canada. The part of the same range that is i ...

, including Bald Mountain, which occupies the northeastern edge of town. (Its summit is just over the town line in Woodford.) In the southwest part of town is Mount Anthony, part of the

Taconic Range The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range () are a range of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western Vermont. ...

Climate

Bennington experiences a humid continental climate ( Köppen '' Dfb'') with cold, snowy winters and warm to hot, humid summers. Snowfall can vary greatly from year to year. The town can experience snowfall as early as October and as late as April, and the surrounding high country can receive snow as late as May.

Nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use o ...

s, accompanied by high winds, often dump heavy snow on the town during the winter, and accumulations of one foot of snow or greater are not uncommon when these storms move through the area. One such storm dumped very wet, heavy snow on October 4, 1987, catching many residents off guard, because it occurred quite early in that year's fall season. The storm resulted in many downed trees and power lines, due in part to that year's fall foliage still being intact. Abundant sunshine, along with heavy showers and thunderstorms, are frequent during the summer months. Although

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

es seldom occur there, an F2 tornado did hit North Bennington on May 31, 1998, during an extremely rare tornado outbreak in the region. The record high is , set in 1955. The record low is , set in 1994. July is typically the wettest month, and February is the driest. Bennington averages of snow annually. Bennington lies in

USDA plant hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

5a.

Demographics

As of the

2010 US census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serv ...

, there were 15,764 people, 6,246 households, and 3,716 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 370.92 people per square mile (143.18/km²). There were 6,763 housing units at an average density of 159.3 per square mile (61.4/km²). The

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established fo ...

/ racial makeup of the town was 95.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 1.3% from

two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

, 1.2%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

, 0.8% Asian, 0.4% from other races, 0.3% Native American, and 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

. Latino of any race were 1.7% of the population. There were 6,246 households, out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were couples living together and joined in either

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.5% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.88. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $39,765, and the median income for a family was $51,489. Males had a median income of $39,406 versus $30,322 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $23,560. About 14.2% of families and 15.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Bennington employs an open town meeting form of local government, with an elected seven-member Select Board elected by the town's citizens at large from two districts. The Select Board is considered the "executive branch" of the town's government, which in turn hires and supervises a Town Manager. As of 2021, the town manager is Stuart A. Hurd. The current Town Clerk is Cassandra J. Barbeau. Four representatives from Bennington's two voting districts currently represent the town in Montpelier. Bennington County is also represented by two state senators.

Fire department

The town is protected by both the Bennington Fire Department and the Bennington Rural Fire Department. The current chief of the Bennington Fire Department is Jeff Vickers, and the current chief of the Bennington Rural Fire Department is Wayne Davis.

Police

The town is protected by the Bennington Police Department, which consists of 40 sworn and non-sworn officials serving the town, including the villages of Old Bennington and North Bennington. The police station's home is at 118 South Street in downtown Bennington. Its current Chief of Police is Paul J. Doucette.

Economy

Industries related to

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...

and

retail Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, dire ...

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, shipping by air,

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pr ...

and government related jobs help shape and play a vital role in Bennington's economy. Bennington County has 15,194 non-farm employees living or working within the county as of 2013.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) is a non-profit general medical surgical hospital located in Bennington, Vermont. It is licensed for 99-beds. Founded in the early 20th century by donations from Henry W. Putnam and his son, SVMC is the ...

, with a workforce of approximately 1,300 employees, is the town's largest employer and the seventh largest in Vermont. Its largest for-profit manufacturing employer is NSK Steering Systems America, Inc., with a workforce of 864 as of March 2013. Saint Gobain owns a plastic factory, the former ChemFab plant, which has contaminated the environment with Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). Bennington leaders have formed the Bennington Economic Development Partners to facilitate and expedite economic growth, working from a newly created Strategic Economic Development Plan that promotes the benefits afforded to companies located in the local area. Low interest loans, site-ready properties for manufacturing, R&D, Retail, and Technology are a few of the benefits available to new and existing industries. The Town of Bennington Economic and Community Development Office, th
Better Bennington Corporation
the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce, Bennington County Regional Commission, and Bennington County Industrial Corporation are just some of the partners that coordinate the efforts of the Strategic Plan. Bennington's "big box" development is mostly confined to the Northside Drive and Kocher Drive corridor in the northern portion of town. Long time ski clothing company, CB Sports was headquartered in Bennington. They operated a popular factory outlet store in town which closed in 2008, due to slow sales as a result of the Great Recession.

Downtown

Bennington has a historic downtown with businesses that include a chocolatier, bakery, cafes, pizza parlors, Chinese restaurant, live theatre, breweries and distilleries, bookshop, men's and women's clothiers, jewelers, Vermont crafts and products, toy stores, antique stores, music shops, a hobby shop, a country store, an art shop, a museum, and several galleries. Downtown Bennington is also home to Bennington Potters, Oldcastle Theatre,

Hemmings Motor News ''Hemmings Motor News'' (HMN) is a monthly magazine catering to traders and collectors of antique, classic, and exotic sports cars. It is the largest and oldest publication of its type in the United States, with sales of 215,000 copies per mont ...

, Robert Frost's Grave and the Old First Church, the Bennington Museum, Grandma Moses' Schoolhouse, Old Blacksmith Shop Visitor Center, and Madison's Brewery. The downtown area is noted for its historically preserved architecture, outdoor seasonal dining, locally owned shops, cafés, Memorial Fountain Park, antique shops, and river walk paralleling the Walloomsac River. Downtown Bennington is a designated "Vermont Main Street" participant overseen and operated by the Better Bennington Corporation, a nationally accredited National Main Street Program by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Big box bylaw

In January 2005, the Select Board proposed a big box bylaw, primarily in response to

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

's plans to raze its existing outlet and replace it with a Supercenter. The potential negative impact on the town's local economy, the low wages paid by Wal-Mart to its employees, and controversies associated with Wal-Mart in general were cited as reasons in support of the bylaw. The bylaw called for a cap on big box stores. In addition, any retailer wishing to build a store greater than of aggregate store space would be required to submit and pay for an evaluation known as a Community Impact Study to the Select Board for approval. Residents voted against the initial proposal in April 2005. However, the Select Board passed a new bylaw on August 1, 2005, that went into effect August 22.

Transportation

Roads and highways

Bennington is the largest town, and the second-largest municipality in Vermont (after Rutland City), that is not located on or near either of Vermont's two major Interstate highways. It is, however, signed on

Interstate 91 Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connec ...

at Exit 2 in Brattleboro and Interstate 787 at Exit 9E in Green Island, New York. Five highways cross the town, including two limited-access

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s. They are: * US 7

U.S. Route 7 ("Ethan Allen Highway") * Vermont 9

Vermont Route 9 Vermont Route 9 (VT 9) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Vermont. The highway runs from the New York state line in Bennington, where it continues west as New York State Route 7 (NY 7), to the New Hampshire state line at the Connecticut R ...

("Molly Stark Trail") * Vermont 7A

Vermont Route 7A Vermont Route 7A (VT 7A) is a north–south state highway in Bennington County, Vermont, in the United States. It is an alternate route of U.S. Route 7 (US 7) between Bennington and Dorset. The route is signed as "Historic ...

("Shires of Vermont Byway") * Vermont 67A

Vermont Route 67A Vermont Route 67 (VT 67) is a east–west state highway in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It runs from a continuation of New York State Route 67 at the New York state line in Shaftsbury to VT 7A farther east in the ...

Vermont Route 279 Vermont Route 279 (VT 279), often referred to as the Bennington Bypass, is a two and three-lane undivided northwest bypass of Bennington, Vermont, Bennington in Bennington County, Vermont, in the United States. It extends for roughly fr ...

("Bennington Bypass") Historic bennington vermont sign

U.S. Route 7, originating in

and continuing northward to the Canada–US border, enters Bennington from the town of Pownal. VT Route 9 enters the town from the

border in Hoosick, where the roadway continues west as

NY Route 7 New York State Route 7 (NY 7) is a state highway in New York in the United States. The highway runs from Pennsylvania Route 29 (PA 29) at the Pennsylvania state line south of Binghamton in Broome County, New York, to Ver ...

, connecting to New York state's Capital District. VT Route 279, also known as the Bennington Bypass, is a Super 2 freeway. The western segment continues westward as NY Reference Route 915G (unsigned) into Hoosick, New York, before meeting

. This road forms a rough semi-circle shape around and north of the unincorporated portion of the town, loosely parallelling VT Route 9 while doing so. A Vermont Welcome Center, located at the center of Route 279's interchange with US 7. Historic VT Route 7A, so named to distinguish it from the freeway portion of US 7, is the former alignment of that road prior to the freeway being built. Vermont Route 67A remains within Bennington for its entire length.

Bus

Bennington is home to the

Green Mountain Community Network Green Mountain Community Network (GMCN) is a private, nonprofit organization, that owns and operates the public transit system by local bus in Bennington County in southwestern Vermont called the Green Mountain Express. Their bus service current ...

, who operate the local Green Mountain Express bus service. As of September 29, 2014, they provide 5 in-town routes Monday through Saturday from 7:35 am to 6 pm on weekdays, and 3 out of town commuter routes serving

(weekdays and Saturdays), Williamstown (weekdays) and Wilmington (weekdays in collaboration with

Southeast Vermont Transit Southeast Vermont Transit (SEVT) is a local bus operator serving Windham County, Vermont, southern Windsor County, and parts of southern Bennington County. Three Brattleboro local routes and ten regional routes to the north are branded as Rockin ...

, formerly the

Deerfield Valley Transit Association Deerfield may refer to: Places United States *Deerfield, Illinois * Deerfield Township, Illinois (disambiguation) * Deerfield, Indiana * Deerfield, Iowa * Deerfield Township, Chickasaw County, Iowa * Deerfield, Kansas * Deerfield, Lexington, Ken ...

's, "MOOver"), and intermediate points. Intercity bus service is provided by the weekday operating Yankee Trails World Travel's Albany-Bennington Shuttle, as well as by Premier Coach's

Vermont Translines Vermont Translines is an intercity bus company founded by its parent company, charter bus company Premier Coach, in 2013. The bus company mainly serves the US Route 7 and US Route 4 corridors in the New England state of Vermont. Aided by $400,0 ...

, in its partnership with

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

, which operates its Albany to Burlington bus line daily. Both buses serve the town from GMCN's bus terminal.

Taxi

A few taxi companies, including Bennington Taxi, Walt's Taxi and Monument Taxi, currently serve Bennington and surrounding areas.

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery ( Uber Eats and Postmates), pa ...

and Lyft ridesharing is also available there.

Rail

The

Vermont Railway The Vermont Railway is a shortline railroad in Vermont and eastern New York, operating much of the former Rutland Railway. It is the main part of the Vermont Rail System, which also owns the Green Mountain Railroad, the Rutland's branch to Bellow ...

freight rail line, and an exempt rail spur, traverses Bennington in the northern portions. The closest

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

train station is at the

Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center The Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center (often referred to as the ITC or the Scelsi ITC) is a transit facility located in downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The $11 million facility is named after Joseph Scelsi, a longtime State Rep ...

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

, served by the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

''Lake Shore Limited'' train. Amtrak train service is also available from Renssalaer, New York.

Air

William H. Morse State Airport is a public-use, state-owned

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

located about west of downtown Bennington. Also referred to as "Southwest Vermont's Airport", it sits near the northern flank of Mount Anthony and close to the Bennington Battle Monument. Based at this airport is the hub of cargo air carrier AirNow. The closest commercial passenger airport to Bennington is

Albany International Airport Albany International Airport is six miles (9 km) northwest of Albany, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Albany County Airport Authority. ALB covers of land. It is an air port of entry in the town of Coloni ...

Education

Bennington is home to a variety of municipal, parochial and private schools. Continuing education is supported by a diverse mix of colleges and career development centers. Bennington College is a progressive four-year

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual ca ...

ranked 89 in Tier 1 by U.S. News College Rankings.

Southern Vermont College Southern Vermont College was a private liberal arts college on the former Edward Everett Estate (originally The Orchards) near Bennington, Vermont. The college closed on May 31, 2019. History Southern Vermont College was founded in 1926 as St. ...

was a private, four-year liberal arts college offering a career-directed curriculum, but has since closed indefinitely following the 2018–2019 academic year. Northeastern Baptist College opened in 2013. Bennington also has separate satellite campuses of the

Community College of Vermont The Community College of Vermont (CCV) is a community college in Vermont. It is Vermont's second largest college, serving 7,000 students each semester and is part of the Vermont State Colleges System. The college has 12 locations throughout Vermo ...

and

Vermont Technical College Vermont Technical College, commonly shortened to Vermont Tech, is a public technical college in Vermont with its main campuses in Randolph Center, Williston and Norwich. In addition, there are regional campuses in Brattleboro and Bennington, ...

, both located downtown. Bennington currently has four K–12 public elementary schools: * Village School of North Bennington (formerly North Bennington Graded School) * Bennington Elementary School * Monument Elementary School * Molly Stark Elementary School There is one public middle school, the Mount Anthony Union Middle School (MAUMS), and one public high school, the

Mount Anthony Union High School Mount Anthony Union High School is the public high school serving Bennington, Vermont, as well as the towns of Shaftsbury, Woodford, and Pownal, Glastenbury, and Bennington County. As of the 2023-2024 academic year, the school has about 1,200 st ...

(MAUHS). The Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union oversees Bennington's public school system, which also includes a career center, the Southwestern Vermont Career Development Center, located on MAUHS' campus. Grace Christian School is a private, faith-based K–12 school founded in 1995.

High school sports

Bennington is home to the 33-time defending state wrestling champion Mount Anthony Patriots. They have won 33 consecutive Vermont state wrestling championships as of the 2022 season. This is the national record. As of 2010, the Mount Anthony Patriots have also been state champions in men's and women's nordic skiing, baseball, football, golf and women's lacrosse.

Places of worship

First Congregational Church of Bennington - 1804

There are 22 places of worship in Bennington, 21

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

and one

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and at least 18 denominations. The following list does not include places of worship in North Bennington, which is an incorporated village in Bennington. * Bennington Church of Christ (

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations based on the '' sola scriptura'' doctrine. Their practices are based on Bible texts and draw on the early Christian church as described in the New Testament. ...

) * Bennington Friends Meeting (

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

) * Bennington Seventh-day Adventist Church (

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

) * Bible Baptist Church of Bennington (

Independent Baptist Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. Although some Independent Baptist churches refuse a ...

) * Church Of God Iglesia De Dios Alfa & Omega * The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – Bennington, Vermont ( Latter-day Saints) * Congregation Beth El (

Reconstructionist Judaism Reconstructionist Judaism is a Jewish movement that views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization rather than a religion, based on concepts developed by Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983). The movement originated as a semi-organized stream w ...

) * First Baptist Church of Bennington (

American Baptist Churches USA The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainl ...

) *

First Congregational Church of Bennington The First Congregational Church of Bennington, also known as the Old First Church, is a historic church in Old Bennington, Vermont. The congregation was organized in 1762 and the current meeting house was built in 1805. The building, one of ...

( National Association of Congregational Christian Churches) * Green Mountain Christian Center (

Assemblies of God USA The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially the General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States founded in 1914 during a meeting of white Pentecostal ministers at Hot Springs, Arkansas (with e ...

) * Green Mountain Mennonite Fellowship (Mennonite: Nationwide Fellowship Churches) * Harvest Christian Ministries * Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses (

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

) * Missionary Alliance Church (

Christian and Missionary Alliance The Alliance World Fellowship is the international governing body of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA). The Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within the Higher Life movement of Christiani ...

) * Sacred Heart Saint Francis de Sales Church (

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

) * Second Congregational Church (

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

) * St. Peter's Episcopal Church ( Episcopal) * Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bennington (

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

) * Mission City Church

Former places of worship

* Chapel Road Church of God * First Church of Christ, Scientist (

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known ...

) * Sacred Heart Church (Roman Catholic)

Parks and recreation

The town runs Willow Park, a large park north of downtown, which hosts athletic fields, an 18-hole disc-golf course, a common area for group functions and a large children's playground. The town also runs a recreation center on Gage Street, which contains a large indoor year-round swimming pool, softball fields, outdoor basketball court and weight room. Bennington also has a small network of mostly disconnected multi-use recreational trails; there are plans to better connect these paths in the future. The closest state parks to Bennington are Lake Shaftsbury State Park in Shaftsbury and Woodford State Park in Woodford. The Long Trail and

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

overlap each other as they pass the town just to the east.

Culture

Arts

Bennington is the former home of the

Chamber Music Conference and Composers' Forum of the East The Chamber Music Conference and Composers' Forum of the East (CMC) is a summer conference that brings together amateur musicians, professional faculty, and composers-in-residence to study and play chamber music. The CMC was founded in 1946, and mos ...

, a summer institute for amateur musicians. The Conference was held on the campus of Bennington College. Bennington is also home to the Oldcastle Theatre Company, a small professional theatre with a special interest in encouraging New England plays. Bennington College, in the village of North Bennington, has been the home base for Sage City Symphony since its founding in 1973 by Louis Calabro. The Symphony plays a challenging program of the traditional repertoire as well as commissioning a new work each year. The

Vermont Arts Exchange The Vermont Arts Exchange (VAE) is a non-profit community arts organization based at North Bennington in the US state of Vermont. The mission of the VAE is to strengthen communities and neighborhoods through the arts. History Foundation Co-foun ...

(VAE) is a non-profit community arts organization based in

. The mission of the VAE is to strengthen communities and neighborhoods through the arts. VAE hosts exhibitions, artist and community workspaces, and the Basement Music Series. Concerts run year-round and showcase a variety of nationally acclaimed musicians. Bennington is home to the Bennington County Choral Society, the Bennington Children's Chorus and the Green Mountain Youth Orchestra.

Annual events

*First Fridays in Downtown Bennington, July through October *Fallapalooza!, store-to-store trick-or-treating on the Saturday before Halloween *The Winter Festival and Penguin Plunge at Lake Paran in North Bennington in late January benefits Special Olympics of Vermont. *The St. Patrick's Day Parade in March *Mayfest in May, an annual showcase of local business vendors *The Memorial Day Parade in May *Midnight Madness in July, hours and discounts vary but nearly all retailers participate; 7 p.m. to midnight *The Bennington Battle Day Parade in August *The Garlic and Herb Festival during Labor Day weekend *The Festival of Trees in late November and early December

Print media

Bennington's local newspaper is the ''

Bennington Banner ''The Bennington Banner'' is a daily newspaper published in Bennington, Vermont. The paper covers local, national, and world news. It is distributed throughout Southwestern Vermont and eastern New York (Rensselaer and Washington Counties). The pa ...

'', with a daily circulation of 7,800. News is also carried in the ''Troy Record'', ''

Rutland Herald The ''Rutland Herald'' is the second largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Vermont (after ''The Burlington Free Press''). It is published in Rutland. With a daily circulation of about 12,000, it is the main source of news geared towards ...

'' and ''Manchester Journal''.

Radio and television

Bennington is located in a fringe viewing area of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy television market. In addition to the Albany television stations, which include

WRGB WRGB (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Schenectady, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CW affiliate WCWN (channel 45, also licensed to Sc ...

( CBS),

WTEN WTEN (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Albany, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is a sister station to Fox affiliate WXXA-TV (channel 23, also licens ...

( ABC), WNYT ( NBC), WXXA-TV ( Fox) and WMHT ( PBS),

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

carries WCAX-TV, the Burlington CBS affiliate, and Rutland

Vermont PBS Vermont Public Co. is the public broadcaster serving the U.S. state of Vermont. Its headquarters, newsroom, and radio studios are located in Colchester, with television studios in Winooski. It operates two statewide radio services aligned with ...

outlet WVER. The radio stations WBTN-AM 1370 and VPR affiliate WBTN-FM 94.3 broadcast from, and are licensed to Bennington. The alternative music radio station WEQX is located in nearby Manchester. Bennington is also within range of several stations from Glens Falls and the Capital District. Bennington is also the town of license for these radio station translators: *93.5 FM W228BL ( VPR Classical) *98.5 FM W253AF (translator of WNGN-FM from Argyle, NY,

Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

)

Sites of interest

* Bennington Battle Monument * Grandma Moses Gallery at the Bennington Museum * Park-McCullough Historic House, a well-preserved, 35-room, Victorian

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American collo ...

's grave * Bennington College *

Photo gallery

Image:PostcardRRStationBenningtonVT1913.jpg, N.Y.C.R.R. station in 1913 Image:FirstCongregationalChurchofBennington.jpg,

, 1804 Image:Henry House.jpg, Henry House, 1769 Image:Burt Henry Covered Bridge.jpg,

Burt Henry Covered Bridge The Burt Henry Covered Bridge, also known as the Henry Covered Bridge or just the Henry Bridge, is a covered bridge that spans the Walloomsac River near Bennington, Vermont. A Town lattice truss bridge, it carries River Road, just south of the v ...

, 1835 Image:SilkCoveredBridge.jpg,

Silk Covered Bridge The Silk Covered Bridge is a covered bridge, carrying Silk Road across the Walloomsac River between downtown Bennington, Vermont and the village of North Bennington, United States. A Town lattice truss bridge, it was built in 1840, and is one o ...

, 1840 Image:The blue benn.JPG, The Blue Benn, a historic diner in Bennington

Infrastructure

Health care

* Bennington is home to

, a community hospital that serves southern Vermont, northwestern Massachusetts, and neighboring eastern New York counties. It also and has satellite clinics in Manchester, Pownal and Wilmington, and Deerfield Valley. The 99-bed medical center is known for its excellence in nursing, receiving the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Magnet designation four times consecutively since 2002, and is also associated with a large modern cancer center * The Bennington Rescue Squad provides Primary 911 service in Bennington as well as non-emergency and interfacility transfers and is staffed at the paramedic level by paid career employees. * A number of primary and specialty care providers practice in the Bennington area. Most are affiliated with the Southwestern Vermont Healthcare system. *

United Counseling Services United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

(UCS) provides Bennington, and the remainder of Bennington County, with services for mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse. The agency is headquartered in Bennington and has a satellite office in Manchester.

Utilities

Bennington's electricity is supplied by

Green Mountain Power Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

. Non-purchased surface and groundwater is supplied by the Bolles Brook in Woodford and the Morgan Spring in Bennington, respectively. The Bennington Water Department manages both water sources. Cable television in Bennington is provided by

. Comcast and

Consolidated Communications Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc., doing business as Consolidated Communications, is an American broadband and business communications provider headquartered in Mattoon, Illinois. The company provides data, internet, voice, managed an ...

also provide the town with landline

phone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into ele ...

and high speed

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

service.

Notable people

In popular culture

* Author

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two m ...

's memoirs, ''Life Among the Savages'' and ''Raising Demons'', depict mid-20th century life in Bennington. *Much of the 1974 action film ', starring Horst Buchholz, Ann Wedgeworth and Polly Holliday, was filmed in Bennington. *The Walloomsac Farmers Market, held in Bennington each Saturday, ranked #72 on '' The Daily Meal's'' 101 Best Farmer's Markets for 2014 list. * Southern Vermont College's Everett Mansion was featured in a 2015 episode of SyFy's Ghost Hunters.Hunting for Ghosts in southern Vermont
, WCAX. Retrieved 2015-10-28.

References

External links

Town of Bennington official website

Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce

Bennington Historical Society
{{Authority control Micropolitan areas of Vermont Towns in Vermont County seats in Vermont Towns in Bennington County, Vermont