Franklin County

In 1796, when Franklin County was carved out of Chittenden County, it was frontier territory — the northern edge of American settlement, with Quebec just beyond. The county is named for Benjamin Franklin, who had died only six years earlier. Its seat, St. Albans City, sits on a bluff above St. Albans Bay on Lake Champlain, surrounded by some of the most productive farmland in Vermont.

St. Albans earned a permanent place in Civil War history on October 19, 1864, when 21 Confederate soldiers crossed from Canada and raided the town's three banks, stealing over $200,000. It remains the northernmost land engagement of the Civil War. The raiders fled back to Canada, and the diplomatic fallout contributed to the end of the Reciprocity Treaty between the U.S. and British North America. Later, St. Albans became a major railroad hub — the Central Vermont Railway headquartered there, and the 1900 rail yard employed over a thousand workers.

Dairy farming still dominates the county's economy. Franklin County consistently leads Vermont in milk production, and the rolling pastures between Fairfield, Sheldon, and Highgate are dotted with working farms. The county's 17 towns are home to about 49,000 people. County government operates from St. Albans City, where the courthouse, sheriff's department, and state's attorney serve a county that stretches from the Canadian border to the foothills of the Green Mountains.