East Haven

Granted in 1790, East Haven is one of Vermont's smallest and most remote towns, tucked into the hills of Essex County between Burke and the Northeast Kingdom's interior. The town was slow to settle — its rough terrain and distance from major roads kept the population tiny — and it has never had a true village center with stores or a post office of its own.

With fewer than 300 residents, East Haven is the kind of place where everybody knows everybody. The town's land is mostly forested, with logging roads crisscrossing the hills and hunting camps dotting the woods. Victory Bog, a rare boreal wetland, lies partly within the town's borders. Despite its small size, East Haven maintains its own town government with a selectboard and holds Town Meeting each March, where the entire voter turnout might fit comfortably in a single room. It is Vermont self-governance at its most intimate scale.