Manchester, Vermont City Guide
For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Manchester, Vermont Travel Guide has been your connection to Manchester's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.
Manchester History
Manchester’s beginnings predate the American Revolution. The colonial governor of New Hampshire bestowed the charter on Manchester in 1761 naming it for a prominent English aristocrat with the hope that he might take an interest in the town as a patron. The first settlers arrived in 1764 and it quickly became evident that the landscape was better suited for grazing and tilling. Sheep became the grazing animal of choice and by 1839 some 6000 sheep roamed on the hillsides. Their population far exceeded the human inhabitants. Although other industries would develop including iron mines, marble quarries and lumber, it wasn’t until the 1840’s when the railroad connected Manchester with industrialized centers such as New York City and Boston that tourists started to arrive. The people came to enjoy the scenic beauty and historic architecture. Post Civil War it developed into a resort area which it remains today. Today it is especially popular with visitors from Connecticut and New York as it is within a short driving distance. Many of Manchester’s bed and breakfast inns are historic buildings. Your B&B innkeepers would delight in sharing their bed and breakfast history, perhaps even over a glass of wine.
