Page 220 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

settlement this was therefore potentially an important routeway from the east. The river could also be used to float rafts of logs and carry finished timber westwards down to the lake.
The founding of Montpelier was a time just after the revolutionary War, and as France had sided with the Revolutionary Army, at this time anything French was popular. So the name Montpelier was copied from a city in France of the same name and not dissimilar landscape. By 1791 there were more settlers and the village had a population of 117.
The river and its tributaries could also power early mills. The Railroad opened
in Montpelier in 1849. But by this time, industries were looking for coastal ports and other centers to develop in, and as a result few industries came to Montpelier.
That is why the city has remained small. The main employer if government, with insurance companies being the most important part of the private sector.
Unlike in most industrial cities where factories closed and large retail firms moved to out of town malls, leaving he downtown area in decay, Montpelier still has a thriving downtown collection of stores, still mostly family-run businesses.
Montpelier in fall.
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