Clay Berry, age 8, of Bennington, Vt., for his question:
HOW DID VERMONT GET ITS NAME?
Vermont’s nickname is the “Green Mountain State.” The word Vermont comes from “Vert Mont,” the French words for Green Mountain. The green tree covered peaks of Vermont run the entire length of the central part of the state and actually divide the eastern and western parts.
Although Vermont is the only New England state without a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, water borders more than half of the state. The Connecticut River forms Vermont’s entire eastern border and Lake Champlain extends along the northern half of the western border.
Vermont has the lowest percentage of city dwellers of any state in the United States. Only three Vermont cities have more than 15,000 citizens: Bennington, Burlington and Rutland. The state ranks 48th among all the states in population. Only Alaska and Wyoming have fewer persons.
Forests cover about three fourths of Vermont.
Vermont has six main land regions: the White Mountains, the Western New England Upland, the Green Mountains, the Vermont Valley, the Taconic Mountains and the Champlain Valley.
Mount Mansfield, one of the Green Mountains, is the highest peak in Vermont. It rises 4,393 feet above sea level. The Green Mountains region is the center of the state’s tourist industry. The area is also an important source of minerals.
Many of the state’s rivers run down the slopes of the Green Mountains with much of the water going into the Connecticut River. An interesting fact is that a 1934 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States gave control of the Connecticut River to New Hampshire.
Vermont has about 430 lakes and ponds. Most of them are located in the northeastern part of the state with Lake Champlain, the largest lake in New England, covering 268 square miles in the northwestern part of Vermont. The rest of the 490 square mile lake lies in New York and Quebec.
Winters are long and cold in Vermont, with an average January temperature of 19 degrees Fahrenheit. The mountains receive from 80 to 120 inches of snow each year and lots of skiers.
Summer nights in Vermont are cool and crisp, especially in the mountains. The state has an average July temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The state’s highest temperature was 105 degrees. It was recorded on July 4, 1911. But such hot days don’t happen often.
Before the white man arrived, the Vermont area was chiefly an Indian hunting ground.
An explorer from France named Samuel de Champlain was probably the first white man to see what is now Vermont. He arrived at Lake Champlain in 1609 and claimed the region for France.
During the French and Indian War from 1754 to 1763, England gained from France the control of Vermont and much of the rest of North America.
Vermont became the 14th state in the United States. Statehood was received on March 4, 1791. On January 15, 1777, Vermont settlers had declared their territory an independent republic and named it New Connecticut. The name went back to Vermont when its first constitution was adopted six months later.