The High Mowing Farm Bridge in Wilmington, Vermont
In September, 2021, a friend and I decided to explore all the towns in the state of Vermont. While there is a Vermont 251 Club, which lists all the (you guessed it!) 251 towns in this small state, I did not actually become a member until I had completed my journey, for reasons I still don't fully understand. And, to be precise, the Club recently decided to include Essex Junction as a town, so the official count is now 252, but the Club is still using 251 in its name.
The first big learning was that the 251 "official" towns not only don't match the towns on our map, but they also do not include the boroughs and hamlets associated with many of the towns, making the actual number of towns visited (unofficial though they may be) much greater in number than 251 (or 252). And when I say, "visit," I mean explore anything of note that to see in each town (where often there is nothing).
Specifically, the "Welcome" sign was what really indicated that a town had been visited, especially if it had the date the town was chartered/ founded/ incorporated/ established. Other signage indicating the town's name got recorded when there was no town sign. FYI, you can often tell a lot about a community based on their Welcome Sign -- like whether the town has a lot of pride (most do) or what they think you should see in the town (ie a church, a bridge, cows, etc). And, because Vermont is well-known for its covered bridges, I am trying to visit all them while traversing this beautiful state.
I have written blog posts that covered all the places I visited along my 251 journey. Hopefully you'll learn something and be inspired to come visit. There's no better place in this country, in my humble opinion -- but I love the cold, great cheese, maple everything (including the foliage their trees provide), craft beer, skiing, and walking amongst the natural beauty in this green mountain state. Oh, and I'm not a fan of the heat.
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