Dummerston

Chartered in 1753, Dummerston is one of the oldest towns in Vermont, predating the state itself by nearly four decades. Located in Windham County just north of Brattleboro along the Connecticut River, it was named for William Dummer, a colonial lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. The town's early settlers farmed the river valley, and by the nineteenth century several small villages — Dummerston Center, West Dummerston, and East Dummerston — had developed their own distinct identities.

The West Dummerston covered bridge, spanning the West River, is one of the longest covered bridges in Vermont and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. About 1,900 people live in Dummerston today, and the town retains a strongly rural character with active farms, orchards, and forested hillsides. Rudyard Kipling lived in Dummerston in the 1890s at his estate Naulakha, where he wrote "The Jungle Book" and "Captains Courageous." The town operates under a selectboard, and its annual Town Meeting each March continues a tradition of direct democratic participation that stretches back to the colonial era.