About 251 Vermont

The first book I bought when I moved to Vermont over twenty-five years ago was “Let Me Show You Vermont,” a title that jumped out at me from a dusty corner in a used book store because it appealed to my obsessive curiosity about my new home state.

Written in 1937 by Charles Edward Crane, this book’s vivid descriptions of Vermont’s rural past made a lost time come alive, and its faded black and white photographs showed places that still looked familiar. I wanted to jump in my car and drive dirt roads looking for those same country stores, farmhouses, dairy barns and one-room schools.

I was also intrigued to learn that Vermont has 251 unique towns of varying sizes and personalities, and that there’s even a club to encourage folks to explore them all. I’m in!

So, seventy years after Charles Crane showed us his Vermont, this blog is my own report—images as well as written, since I’m a visual artist—of what’s still here, what has vanished forever, and what may be coming to the 251 towns of wonderful Vermont.

About 251 Vermont’s art:

The color images are 8" x 10" mixed media (my black and white photographs hand-painted with oils.) Sketches are Faber Castell Pitt sanguine and black pen in Cachet sketchbooks.