Montpelier’s Heritage
One City, One Syrup, One Sculpture at a Time

Vermont

October 2025

Montpelier, VT, The City of Bridges

Years ago, in August 2011, while on summer vacation with our sons, we paid a flying visit to Montpelier, VT, the smallest state capital city in the United States. We then quickly walked around the Vermont State House before continuing our drive to our hotel in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

Today, we enjoyed a much slower pace by first driving 1.5 hours via the scenic route through the Green Mountains before arriving in Vermont’s capital. The city is also nicknamed “The City of Bridges”. At the confluence of the Winooski River and its North Branch, it has at least 26 bridges within its city limits. The bridges are also a metaphor for Montpelier’s resilience and community spirit, connecting people and driving economic recovery.

Discovering the Heart of Montpelier

We started our visit again at the majestic Vermont State House. This state capitol is one of America’s oldest and best-preserved state capitol buildings. On top of the shining golden dome, Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, watches out over the city; she represents Vermont’s deep connection to its land and farming heritage. After we walked around the colorful grounds, we went on our way to Montpelier’s historic downtown.

While walking downtown, we saw several notable murals. Located on the corner of Elm Street, we saw “Morning Star”, the girl with the hat. The mural “Quietness” is of a beautiful young girl. These works indeed give the city its artistic identity.

It is also clear why historic downtown Montpelier has the title of the largest National Register of Historic Places district in Vermont. The district contains over 450 historic buildings. State and Main Streets, the city’s commercial center since the 19th century, show beautifully preserved architecture. Today, the district’s buildings house a mix of government offices, cozy shops, local restaurants, and churches. Especially, the Gothic Revival Saint Augustine Catholic Church is a gorgeous centerpiece built of local Vermont granite.

Liquid Gold in Vermont

Since we were in the area, we also drove to Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks, just outside Montpelier, Vermont. This farm has been part of the local landscape for eight generations, starting in the 1800s. Taught by Native Americans, they began as a small family maple-making tradition.

We learned a bit about the maple syrup-making process. In the Spring, a tap is placed into the sugar maple trunk to collect its sap through a system of tubes. In a sugarhouse, it’s boiled slowly, turning 40 gallons of sap into one gallon of golden syrup!

Since there weren’t many tours or activities available for adults, our visit was relatively short. We roamed around in the gift shop for a bit, where I bought a few samples with different flavored syrups. Now we just have to decide which one to try first!

The Granite Art of Hope Cemetery

We found beautiful art in an unexpected place at Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont. Established in 1895, it’s less a graveyard and more an open-air sculpture museum.

The reason for this? Barre is the “Granite Capital of the World.” This industry attracted master stonecutters and sculptors, who worked with the tough Barre Gray granite. Tragically, the silica dust from their work led to silicosis, causing many craftsmen to die young. Knowing this, they often built the monuments where they would eventually be buried.

Walking the serene grounds was like scrolling through a personal picture book, each monument showing the life story of the person laid to rest. We were touched by the individual monuments, including a granite race car, a detailed airplane, and a massive granite cube. It gave a bittersweet feeling to see the exceptionally talented carvings of Barre’s stonecutters, knowing that the materials they worked with caused them to die so young.

Montpelier’s HeritageOne City, One Syrup, One Sculpture at a Time