Putney

Before the 1960s counterculture discovered it, Putney was already a town that attracted unconventional thinkers. The Putney School, a progressive boarding school founded in 1935, and the Experiment in International Living, established in 1932, both predated the commune era and gave the town a cosmopolitan streak unusual for rural Windham County.

Chartered in 1753, Putney sits along the Connecticut River just north of Brattleboro. The town's fertile intervale land supported farming for centuries, and agriculture remains present today — Harlow's Sugar House, Basketville, and several organic farms operate within town limits. With about 2,815 residents, Putney has a village center with a food co-op, a few restaurants, and the kind of community bulletin board that tells you everything about a town's character.

The Yellow Barn Music Festival brings classical and contemporary musicians to Putney each summer, continuing a tradition of cultural programming that belies the town's modest size. Town meeting remains the governing mechanism, and Putney's meetings are known for robust debate — a reflection of a community that cares deeply about how it governs itself.