Barnard

Chartered in 1761, Barnard is a Windsor County town centered around Silver Lake and the rolling hills east of Woodstock. The town developed as a farming community in the late 1700s, and by the mid-1800s had a thriving village with mills along the streams that drain into the Ottauquechee River watershed. When the railroad bypassed Barnard in favor of the valley towns, the population declined, and the town settled into the quieter rhythm it maintains today.

Silver Lake State Park, located within Barnard's borders, is a popular summer destination for swimming and camping. The lake itself is a natural gem, ringed by forest and remarkably undeveloped for a body of water so close to Woodstock. Barnard also preserves a strong sense of community identity -- the Barnard General Store serves as an informal town center and gathering place.

With a population near 970, Barnard governs itself through the selectboard and town meeting system. The annual meeting is well-attended for a town its size, reflecting the engaged civic culture that tends to thrive in communities where residents have chosen to live deliberately in a place that asks something of them.