Credit: The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.

There are structures, villages, and sites representing three centuries of history and 12,000 years of pre-history in nearly every town in Vermont. These reminders of how people lived with the land in the past are perhaps the most comprehensive physical expression of who we are and where we came from. Saving them as we grow and develop will help keep Vermont a special place.

The Vermont Historic Preservation Plan is being developed by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation in order to ensure a future for Vermont's many historic and archaeological resources through both public and private initiative. The Division has summarized nine important themes in Vermont's history, such as Agriculture, Transportation, Industry and Commerce, and Native American Prehistory, and identified the types of sites and structures related to these themes. During 1989 and 1990 in a series of statewide workshops based on the nine themes, Vermonters with an interest in, or practical knowledge of a particular theme were asked to help develop goals for historic sites and structures, and to propose activities to carry out those goals. In order for the Plan to succeed, it is essential to consider the perspective of the agricultural community, for instance, in identifying goals and activities for preservation of historic agricultural sites and structures.

The resounding message from each workshop was threefold:

• Vermont has both a tremendous amount and variety of important historic and archaeological resources.
• the protection and continued use of these resources is important to the quality of life and economic well-being of our state.
• Vermonters need more opportunities to learn about this important part of their heritage.

The Plan will build on the goals and recommendations from the workshops. It will recommend policy at the state, regional and local levels, and guide Division programs and activities. It will spur preservation initiative at the local level by helping Vermonters develop and implement preservation policies and activities in their own communities.

The Vermont Preservation Plan will be available early in 1997.

Return to Planning Page

Go to Rural Preservation in Vermont

Go to Vermont Land Trust

The Vermont Heritage Network
The University of Vermont Historic Preservation Program
Wheeler House, University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
(802)656-3180
http://www.uvm.edu/~vhnet
E-mail To: vhnet@zoo.uvm.edu