City (pop., 2000: 38,889), northwestern Vermont, U.S. Lying on a hillside sloping toward Lake
Chartered by Gov. Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire in 1763, it was named for the Burling family, who were pioneer landowners. Settlement began in 1773. Later it was a military post; in the War of 1812 it saw several engagements between land batteries and British warships on the lake. It was the home of {{link=Allen, Ethan">Ethan Allen . It is the seat of the University of Vermont. Shelburne Museum, a reconstruction of early American life, is nearby.