A Brief History of St. Johnsbury

Tucked away in the dark forests of Vermont's NortheastKingdom, St. Johnsbury was mostly unbroken wildernesswhen first chartered in 1786. Swinging axes soon made wayfor the burgeoning split-level town, with stately Main Streethomes on St. Johnsbury Plain presiding in grandeur over thebustling commerce of Railroad Street below. Peggy Pearl bringsa decidedly human element to this comprehensive history, wandering the graves of Mount Pleasant Cemetery and bringingto life the stories of those tanners, cobblers, millworkers andbrick makers who made St. Johnsbury their home. With excerpts from vintage newspapers like the Caledonian-Record and the Farmer's Herald, Pearl unfolds the transformation from quiet mill town into picturesque manufacturing hub of Caledonia County