The New International Encyclopædia/Montpelier

MONTPELIER, mŏntpē′lyẽr. A city, the capital of Vermont, and county-seat of Washington County, 40 miles southeast of Burlington; on the Winooski River, and on the Central Vermont, the Montpelier and Wells River, and the Montpelier and Barre railroads (Map: Vermont, D 4). The handsome Capitol is built of granite, its dome rising to a height of 124 feet and surmounted by a statue of Agriculture. Among other features of the city are the State Library, the Wood Art Gallery, the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Washington County Grammar and Montpelier Union School Library, and the Montpelier Seminary. Montpelier is the home of Admiral George Dewey and of Rear-Admiral Charles E. Clark. The principal industries are granite working and the manufacture of saddlery, hardware, and saw-mill and other machinery. The city controls an important trade with the surrounding region, which is largely agricultural, and is the centre of large insurance interests. Under a revised charter of 1900 the government is vested in a mayor, annually elected, and a unicameral council which confirms the executive's appointments of police, and elects superintendents of streets and water, health officer, overseers of the poor, and minor officers. The city owns and operates the waterworks. Population, in 1890, 4160; in 1900, 6266. A charter to the land about Montpelier was secured in 1781, but no settlement was made until 1787. In 1791 Montpelier was organized as a town, and in 1805 became the capital of the State; it was incorporated as a village in 1855, and in 1894 it was chartered as a city. Consult: Thompson, History of Montpelier, 1781-1860 (Montpelier, 1860); Hemenway, History of the Town of Montpelier (ib., 1882).