Windsor

On July 8, 1777, delegates meeting at Elijah West's tavern in Windsor adopted the Constitution of the Vermont Republic — the first written constitution in North America to prohibit slavery and establish universal male suffrage without property requirements. That document made Windsor the birthplace of Vermont, and the Old Constitution House, now a state historic site, preserves the room where it happened.

Windsor's history extends beyond that founding moment. The town became a center of precision manufacturing in the nineteenth century — the Robbins & Lawrence armory pioneered the use of interchangeable parts, and the American Precision Museum, housed in the original factory building, tells that story. With a population of about 3,640, Windsor sits along the Connecticut River in Windsor County, connected to Cornish, New Hampshire by a covered bridge — the longest two-span covered bridge in the world. The selectboard governs, and town meeting each March links present-day residents to a tradition of self-governance that began in this very town 249 years ago.