Bennington, Vermont
One of the chief towns of Bennington county. It lies 120 miles S.W. by S. from Montpelier, 25 S. from Manchester, and 30 east from Troy, N.Y. Population, 1830, 3,419. Present population, about 4,200. First settled, 1761. The town is situated high above the great rivers and the ocean, yet we find it of good alluvial soil, delightfully encircled by ever-green mountains. It abounds in iron ore, manganese, ochre, and marble. The streams are numerous and afford excellent mill sites. The products of the soil consist of all the varieties common to New England. Great attention is paid to the rearing of sheep: about 7000 of those useful animals feed on the hills and valleys. There are in Bennington, 6 cotton and 3 woollen factories, a very extensive iron foundry, 2 furnaces, a paper mill, flouring mills, &c. The public schools justly sustain an elevated rank. Bennington is finely located for the muses. On the border of this town, about 6 miles W. of the court house, the gallant Stark, with a small band of "Green Mountain Boys," celebrated for their bravery, gained an important victory over the British, August 16, 1777. The fame of that battle is as imperishable as the mountains which overshadow the ground. Shame to the country:—there is not a stone to mark the spot!
