Swanton VT
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Swanton is a small town in the Northwest of Vermont. It is one mile from the border with Quebec and is only an hour's drive from Montreal.
Swanton has but a few shops, autoparts, babywear, souvenir and a post office, but several hundred fast food restaurants which serve the ravenous 5000 odd population and passing Canadians in search of cheap American petrol.
Swanton was presented with two Swans by Queen Elizabeth (The sign does not specify which one - I assume the first). These days however, two swans are hired to sit in the pond for the summer months and are paid enough to be able to winter in the Bahamas.
The princial industries of the area are Dairy production and Maple tree tapping. The population enjoy killing things like deer, bear, racoon etc, which they do with bows and arrows, muskets, shotguns and rifles.
Situated ten miles from St Albans, which boasts the most northerly battle of the American civil war and has a lovely WW2 tank parked outside City Hall. (It also has an even larger selection of eateries than Swanton)It is also only a thirty minute drive to Burlington, the biggest city in Vermont.
The local native American tribe are the Abenakis - who are not thought to be hostile at this particular time in history.
Visitors should take time to visit the House of President Chester Arthur. This cabinesque construction is open in the summer months. I visited in September, a sign on the door said, "Closed for Lunch" I waited 3 hours and no one came back. Apparently Lunch lasts from the first week in september until the end of May.
In winter it's cold, in summer it's hot but if you tie a worm to a piece of string and dangle it over lake Champlain, you will catch fish.
Lake Champlain is named after it's discoverer Samuel De Champlain who discovered most of Canada and the great lakes too. The Lake runs from Montreal down into New York straight through Vermont. In Montreal it is pronounced Shom-plan, in Vermont, Cham - Plain. According to historical accounts S de C saw a big monster in the lake which is still sought after and occasionally sited called, "CHAMP". It is not known whether S de C was in the habit of using drugs, or was merely drunk at the time. (If you would like to know more about CHAMP, he has his own link from virtualvermont.com)
The landscape is beautiful, especially with the coming autumn and the fabulous colours which the turning leaves generate.
Swanton has but a few shops, autoparts, babywear, souvenir and a post office, but several hundred fast food restaurants which serve the ravenous 5000 odd population and passing Canadians in search of cheap American petrol.
Swanton was presented with two Swans by Queen Elizabeth (The sign does not specify which one - I assume the first). These days however, two swans are hired to sit in the pond for the summer months and are paid enough to be able to winter in the Bahamas.
The princial industries of the area are Dairy production and Maple tree tapping. The population enjoy killing things like deer, bear, racoon etc, which they do with bows and arrows, muskets, shotguns and rifles.
Situated ten miles from St Albans, which boasts the most northerly battle of the American civil war and has a lovely WW2 tank parked outside City Hall. (It also has an even larger selection of eateries than Swanton)It is also only a thirty minute drive to Burlington, the biggest city in Vermont.
The local native American tribe are the Abenakis - who are not thought to be hostile at this particular time in history.
Visitors should take time to visit the House of President Chester Arthur. This cabinesque construction is open in the summer months. I visited in September, a sign on the door said, "Closed for Lunch" I waited 3 hours and no one came back. Apparently Lunch lasts from the first week in september until the end of May.
In winter it's cold, in summer it's hot but if you tie a worm to a piece of string and dangle it over lake Champlain, you will catch fish.
Lake Champlain is named after it's discoverer Samuel De Champlain who discovered most of Canada and the great lakes too. The Lake runs from Montreal down into New York straight through Vermont. In Montreal it is pronounced Shom-plan, in Vermont, Cham - Plain. According to historical accounts S de C saw a big monster in the lake which is still sought after and occasionally sited called, "CHAMP". It is not known whether S de C was in the habit of using drugs, or was merely drunk at the time. (If you would like to know more about CHAMP, he has his own link from virtualvermont.com)
The landscape is beautiful, especially with the coming autumn and the fabulous colours which the turning leaves generate.
