Peru

High in the Green Mountains of Bennington County, Peru sits along the spine of southern Vermont at elevations that keep winter lingering well into April. The town was chartered in 1761 as Bromley, then renamed Peru in 1804. Bromley Mountain, one of Vermont's older ski areas, operates within town boundaries and has been drawing skiers since 1937.

The Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail both pass through Peru, and the town's forested mountains are part of the Green Mountain National Forest. With about 566 residents, Peru is sparsely settled — the population concentrates in a small village along Route 11, with the rest of the town given over to forest and mountain.

J.J. Hapgood General Store, operating since 1827, claims to be one of the oldest general stores in the country and serves as the de facto community center. Town meeting, held each spring, is where this small mountain community makes its collective decisions about roads, budgets, and the future of a town defined by its landscape.