The New International Encyclopædia/Manchester (Vermont)

MANCHESTER. A town and one of the county-seats of Bennington County, Vt., 52 miles northeast of Troy, N. Y., on the Battenkill River and on the Bennington and Rutland Railroad (Map: Vermont, C 9). It is a popular summer resort, situated amid fine mountain scenery, at the base of Mount Equinox (3816 feet above sea level), which commands a superb view, and has the Skinner Memorial Library of 16,000 volumes, and the Burr and Burton Seminary. There are four miles of marble sidewalk. The town is surrounded by a productive farming section, and has large lumber and marble interests, and manufactures of fishing-rods and ginger champagne. The water of the mineral springs here is exported. Before the organization of Vermont, Manchester was for many years claimed by both New Hampshire and New York. The town was incorporated in 1761 and the village in 1900. Population, in 1890, 1907; in 1900, 1955. Consult Munson, The Early History of Manchester (Manchester, 1876).