Barre Town

Surrounding Barre City on three sides, Barre Town shares its neighbor's granite heritage but has always maintained a more rural, residential character. The town was chartered in 1781 and originally encompassed the area that became Barre City when the city incorporated separately in 1895. The Rock of Ages quarry, the largest deep-hole granite quarry in the world, sits within Barre Town's boundaries and has been in operation since 1885.

The town's landscape transitions from the developed areas near the city boundary to open farmland and forest in the outer reaches. Millstone Hill, above the quarries, has become a popular destination for mountain biking and hiking on trails that wind through abandoned quarry sites and grout piles -- the industrial landscape slowly being reclaimed by recreation and nature.

With a population approaching 8,000, Barre Town is one of the larger towns in Washington County. It governs itself through the selectboard and town meeting system, maintaining the direct democratic tradition even at a scale where representative government might seem more practical. The annual meeting is a substantial affair, reflecting the town's size and the complexity of managing a community that bridges rural Vermont and the granite industry's legacy.