Northfield

Home to Norwich University, the nation's oldest private military college, Northfield has been a college town since Captain Alden Partridge founded the institution in 1819. The university's parade ground and granite buildings dominate the hillside above the Dog River, and its cadets have been a fixture of town life for over two centuries.

Northfield sits in Washington County, about ten miles south of Montpelier, and with nearly 5,900 residents it functions as a regional center for the surrounding hill towns. The town was chartered in 1781 and developed along the Dog River, which powered mills and later attracted the railroad. The covered bridges in Northfield Falls — three within a short stretch — are among the most visited in the state.

The Labor Day celebration in Northfield is legendary, featuring a parade that regularly draws thousands. The town operates with a selectboard and town manager, and the annual town meeting reflects the engaged civic culture you'd expect from a community shaped by two centuries of military tradition and New England self-governance.