Poultney

Chartered in 1761, Poultney grew into a commercial center for southwestern Rutland County, its village anchored by a town green and the buildings of Green Mountain College — which operated from 1834 until its closure in 2019. The college's environmental focus attracted students and faculty who contributed to the town's cultural life for nearly two centuries.

The slate industry shaped Poultney as much as the college did. The surrounding hills contain some of the richest slate deposits in the country, and quarries have been operating here since the 1840s. Welsh immigrants arrived to work the quarries, bringing their language, their churches, and their traditions. The Welsh influence can still be traced in local surnames and in the annual Welsh heritage celebrations.

With about 3,600 residents, Poultney has the infrastructure of a small service center: a hospital, shops, and restaurants along Main Street. The Poultney River runs through town, and the D&H Rail Trail provides walking and biking. Town meeting continues to be the venue where residents exercise the direct democratic authority that Vermont's charter system enshrined centuries ago.