Vermont Barn Census
Chittenden County Student Research Project - 2010
Underhill, Vermont
| English Bank Barn on Irish Settlement Road |
Underhill is a small quiet community that lies at the foothills of the Green Mountains. Mt Mansfield, the highest point in Vermont, lies on the central eastern border of the town. Agriculture was the main source of life for the community until the last half of the twentieth century. Agriculture began as subsistence farming, but not until the heavily forested mountains had been cleared of timber. Timber production was an important economic activity in Underhill throughout the nineteenth century. Sheep farming began to dominate the agriculture during the early decades of the nineteenth century. By the 1850's dairy farming had dispalced sheep farming as the leading agricultural activity. Dairying remained the principle source of agriculture for Underhill for the next century. In addition to dairying and sheep farming, grain production, oats,wheat and corn, supplemented the economy of the town. Maple syrup has always been an important agricultural resource for the community due to the abundance of sugar maple trees which flourish in the mountainous climate of Underhill. All these agricultural activities have left a plethora of barns and farm related buildings throughout the town. The town today still retains the rural agricultural feel of its past even though it has become a bedroom community of Burlington.
Hamilton Child had this to say about Underhill in 1882 “The most purely rural, possessing as picturesque, and at some points more sublime scenery, than to be found in any other town of the county.” Hamilton Child 1882 |
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