September
What historic events happened in 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.
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!
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 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 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.
September 30, 1814
Jacob Estey, founder of the world-famous Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, was born in Hinsdale, New Hampshire.