September

September

September 3, 1761

The town of Tunbridge was chartered. Tunbridge is home to the World's Fair. The Tunbridge World’s Fair began in 1867. The fair celebrates Vermont’s agricultural and farming community. Many people bring their animals or vegetables to show at the fair.

September 4, 1922 

WLAK, Vermont's first radio station, began broadcasting in Bellows Falls. Charles Doe, the announcer, was on the air six hours a day, with weather, farming tips, and piano and gramophone music.

September 6, 1853

Clarina Howard Nichols gave a speech at the Woman's Rights Convention in New York City. She was from West Townsend. Nichols was a journalist, suffragist, and the editor of a newspaper in Vermont. She believed that women should have the right to vote.

Clarina Howard Nichols (video)

September 8, 1910

Nineteen-year-old George Schmitt of Rutland became the first Vermonter to make an engine-powered airplane flight.

September 9, 1951

The change to dial telephones from those which were hand cranked began in Burlington, Vermont.

Connecting: The Telephone in the Mad River Valley (PDF)

September 13, 1848

Phineas Gage had a horrible accident while working on the new Rutland & Burlington railroad. He survived after a large metal rod shot straight through his head!

Phineas Gage

September 14, 1923

The Champlain Valley Fair finished its first season at the newly built Champlain Valley Exposition. Over 50,000 people attended. It began as the Essex Fair in Essex Center. The fair outgrew the old site and needed to move. The Champlain Valley Fair celebrates Vermont’s farming roots.

September 15, 1910

Charles Willard flew an airplane for six minutes in St. Johnsbury. The plane was brought by train from Boston to the Caledonia County Fairgrounds.

Read more about Charles Willard's flight over St. Johnsbury in the St. Johnsbury Caledonian from 1910. 

September 16, 2018

Workers finished regilding the dome of the Vermont State House for the tenth time. Regilding is when workers reapply gold paint or gold leaf to make things shine again.

September 19, 1920

Captain Henry Stickney delivered airmail in Vermont for the first time. Stickney flew a plane to deliver mail to the Summit House, a hotel at the top of Mount Mansfield.

September 19, 1995

The very first Walmart in Vermont opened in Bennington. Some Vermonters did not want a new building to be built for the store. Walmart placed their store in a building already in town.

September 21, 1938

A terrible hurricane caused the deaths of five Vermonters and cost more than twelve million dollars in damage.

September 26, 1945

The World War II Victory ship S. S. Brandon, named for the Vermont town, arrives in Boston with a cargo of U.S. soldiers returning from the war in Europe. Victory ships were built quickly during wartime to carry soldiers and supplies.

Homecoming: V-J Day and the G.I.s Return (PDF)

September 28, 1933

Governor Madeleine Kunin was born in Switzerland. Vermonters elected Kunin as the first female Governor. She served three terms, making her the first woman in the US to do so. As Governor, Kunin opened doors for other women.

September 30, 1814

Jacob Estey, founder of the world-famous Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, was born in Hinsdale, New Hampshire.