Danby

Chartered in 1761 under a New Hampshire grant, Danby occupies a narrow valley in southern Rutland County, squeezed between the Green Mountains to the east and the Taconic Range to the west. Marble quarrying defined the town's economy for much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The white marble from Danby's quarries was prized for its quality, and the town's underground quarry — one of the largest in the world — has supplied stone for buildings and monuments across the country.

About 1,400 people live in Danby today. The village center along Route 7 retains a handful of historic buildings, and the surrounding landscape is heavily forested, with the Appalachian Trail and Long Trail passing through the town's eastern mountains. Danby's selectboard manages town affairs, and the annual Town Meeting each March brings residents together to vote on budgets, road maintenance, and other local matters. It is a town whose identity has been literally carved from the bedrock beneath it.