BENNINGTON

county, southwestern Vermont, U.S., bordered by New York state to the west, Massachusetts to the south, and the Green Mountains to the east. The Taconic Mountains in the west are forested by hardwoods, hemlock, and white pine and are separated by a narrow valley from the Green Mountains in the east, which are forested by spruce, fir, and hardwoods. The county is drained by Otter Creek and Batten Kill and by the West, Deerfield, Hoosic, and Walloomsac rivers. Parklands include Emerald Lake and Woodford state parks as well as McCullough Woods and Howe Pond State Forest. Green Mountain National Forest, which includes a segment of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and several ski areas, occupies the eastern half of the county. Created in March 1778, Bennington is the oldest extant county in Vermont. It is named for Benning Wentworth, a colonial governor. The county seat is shared by Bennington and Manchester, which has long been a resort village. Bennington, the first town formed by the New Hampshire Grants (1749), was the unofficial headquarters of the Green Mountain Boys (founded 1770), a patriot militia that helped defeat the British at the nearby Battle of Bennington (Aug. 16, 1777) in the American Revolution; Bennington College (1932) is located there. The first commercial marble quarry in the United States opened at Dorset in 1785. Other communities are Pownal, Shaftsbury, and Arlington. The economy is based on tourism and manufacturing, particularly electrical equipment. Area 676 square miles (1,752 square km). Pop. (1990) 35,845; (1996 est.) 36,357. town (township), one of the seats of Bennington county (the other is Manchester Village), in the southwest corner of Vermont, U.S., on the Walloomsac River between the Taconic Range and the Green Mountains. It includes the villages of Old Bennington, Bennington, and North Bennington. The site, chartered as a town in 1749, was settled in 1761 and named for Benning Wentworth, governor of New Hampshire, who issued the grant. The settlers were led by Samuel Robinson, who camped in the river valley on his return from the French and Indian War. Within the year the group had organized a town-meeting government that has survived to this day with only slight modifications. These pioneers, among them Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys, successfully resisted the claims to Bennington lands by absentee landlords of New York, and the independence of Vermonters was soon established. During the 19th century the town grew into a textile, pottery, wood products, and paper centre. Its present economy is based on manufacturing (batteries, automotive parts, composites, stoneware, plastic products, and hand tools), agriculture (including maple sugar), and tourism. Nearby ski areas attract many visitors. Extant colonial buildings include the Walloomsac Inn (in continuous service from the 1760s to the 1980s, when it became a private residence) and the houses of Parson Jedediah Dewey, Governor Isaac Tichenor, and General David Robinson. The Old First Church (1806) was restored in 1937; the grave of Robert Frost, the poet, is in the Old Burying Ground. The Bennington Museum, founded in 1875, has an outstanding historical collection centred on regional materials-particularly those associated with the Battle of Bennington in 1777, which took place several miles northwest of Bennington in what is now New York state. The museum includes genealogical records, the oldest stars-and-stripes flag in existence, an art collection containing stoneware and porcelain objects from local potteries, and paintings, including a number of works by Grandma Moses. The Bennington Battle Monument, built in 1891, is a 306-foot- (93-metre-) tall limestone obelisk. The town is the seat of Southern Vermont College (founded 1926) and Bennington College (1932). Area 42 square miles (110 square km). Pop. (1990) 16,451; (1996 est.) 16,328.