Montpelier is located in the north-central area of Vermont. The Winooski River flows west along the south edge of downtown village and is fed by several smaller tributaries that cut through residential districts. On its borders are the towns of Middlesex to the west, Berlin to the south, and East Montpelier to the north and east. Montpelier lies near the geographic center of the state. Though it does not share a border, Montpelier is frequently associated with the nearby city of Barre, and the two are often referred to together as “Barre-Montpelier”.
Originally charted on August 14, 1781, the Town of Montpelier was granted municipal powers by the “Governor, Council and General Assembly of the Freemen of the State of Vermont”. The first permanent settlement began in May 1787, when Colonel Jacob Davis and General Parley Davis arrived from Charlton, Massachusetts. General Davis surveyed the land, while Colonel Davis cleared forest and erected a large log house on the west side of the North Branch of the Winooski River. His family moved in the following winter. Colonel Davis selected the name “Montpelier” after the French city of Montpellier. There was a general enthusiasm for things French as a result of the country’s aid to the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. The settlement grew quickly, and by 1791 the population reached 117. The configuration of the early village was strongly influenced by geography. As early as 1799 a bridge was constructed across the Winooski River to Berlin. The Town’s Charter was reissued on February 6, 1804, to include a boundary description of the lands granted to the Town’s inhabitants and proprietors. The confluence of the Winooski, North Branch and Dog Rivers provided a central point for the local population and commerce. By 1805 the town had a population of 1,200. In that year the state legislature sought a permanent home. Montpelier was selected because of its central location and accessibility, and because local residents provided land and money. A humble State House was soon constructed on State Street. In 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Montpelier on a triumphal tour of the United States, 50 years after the Revolutionary War. The town developed into a center for manufacturing, especially after the Central Vermont Railway opened in Montpelier on June 20, 1849. In response to Montpelier’s growth and changing demographics, on November 9, 1848, the General Assembly divided the original Town into two district municipal corporations. The towns of East Montpelier and Montpelier were created. Later on, in an attempt to modernize its form of government, the town was reconstituted as the Village of Montpelier. By 1858, the layout of the main streets paralleling the rivers was in place. The downtown street pattern has changed very little since that time.
The City of Montpelier grew slowly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during the period of intensive out-migration from the state to new lands in the West, or to industrial centers elsewhere in New England. Montpelier was already established as a government, market, service and industrial center in the region. When the automobile arrived, new state highways were routed to the city limits, and traffic then circulated through the original streets of the city. In 1954, a new bridge was constructed at Bailey Avenue which linked to an extension of Winooski Avenue, now Memorial Drive, and diverted some of the traffic from the downtown area.
