Hubbardton, a small rural Vermont town along the Stone Valley Byway on Vermont Route 30, is known for the Battle of Hubbardton, fought on July 7, 1777, when troops from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts under Colonel Seth Warner made a defiant stand against British forces and, though outnumbered, successfully halted them, buying time for General St. Claire's colonial militia retreating from Fort Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence to regroup before later victories at Bennington and Saratoga; it was the only Revolutionary War battle fought entirely on Vermont soil. The town preserves one of the most pristine American Revolutionary battlefields and hosts an annual July Living History weekend with reenactors, military demonstrations, drilling lessons, camp activities, guided battlefield tours, and children's activities. Hubbardton is also home to one of the country's oldest Revolutionary War battle monuments, a 21-foot marble monument erected in 1859 by citizens of Hubbardton and neighboring towns, dedicated to Amos Churchill, grandson of battle veteran Samuel Churchill, who donated $100 to the monument fund at age 85 and attended the July 7, 1859 dedication, with a wrought iron fence added in 1875. Beyond its battlefield history, Hubbardton has long been a place of outdoor recreation, with lakes, ponds, and streams used for fishing, swimming, and canoeing; it once had three boys' camps, two girls' camps, and a camp for parents, and President Dwight Eisenhower fished at High Pond in 1955. High Pond Ski Area, now closed, was once a popular and affordable family ski area where many children learned to ski. The town is also linked to potato pioneer Albert Bresee, whose Early Rose seed potatoes became highly valued and whose work helped produce a hardy, palatable crop from which almost all potatoes grown today are genetically linked. Places of interest include the Hubbardton Historical Society at the battlefield site, the East Hubbardton Cemetery, the Japanese Garden off St. John Road on Mount Zion, and the Stone Valley Byway itself, which follows the Mettawee Valley through waterways, agricultural lands, historic villages, and a landscape shaped by marble and slate geology.

Photo: Steve Stoessel

Hubbardton, Vermont · USA