A Brief History of St. Johnsbury

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Tucked away in the dark forests of Vermont’s Northeast
Kingdom, St. Johnsbury was mostly unbroken wilderness
when first chartered in 1786. Swinging axes soon made way
for the burgeoning split-level town, with stately Main Street
homes on St. Johnsbury Plain presiding in grandeur over the
bustling commerce of Railroad Street below. Peggy Pearl brings
a decidedly human element to this comprehensive history,
wandering the graves of Mount Pleasant Cemetery and bringing
to life the stories of those tanners, cobblers, millworkers and
brick makers who made St. Johnsbury their home. With excerpts from vintage newspapers like the Caledonian-Record and the Farmer’s Herald, Pearl unfolds the transformation from quiet mill town into picturesque manufacturing hub of Caledonia County.