Water power from the Walloomsac River established the mill town of Bennington, 125 mi/200 km south of Burlington, in the 1700s.
Today, visitors can see the Bennington Battle Monument, a 306-ft/93-m stone monolith commemorating American Gen. John Stark's 1777 battle with the British (the monument itself was built in 1891). Each August, Bennington hosts the Bennington Battle Day Weekend, a re-creation of the Revolutionary War battle, along with square dancing, parades and other festivities.
Don't miss the Bennington Museum, which includes three different collections: the American Glass Museum, the Bennington Pottery Collection (a fine-art collection) and the Grandma Moses Gallery (home of the largest collection of her paintings). The schoolhouse Grandma Moses attended as a child is also on the museum grounds (it was moved in 1972 from its original location in Eagle Bridge, New York). It contains informative exhibits about the artist's life and work. https://benningtonmuseum.org.
If you have time, take a stroll through the grounds of Bennington College, which has biking trails and a spring-fed lake. Poet Robert Frost is buried in the cemetery adjacent to the historic Old First Church.
In nearby North Bennington, visit the Park-McCullough House, a 35-room Victorian mansion with original furnishings, plus a carriage barn, children's playhouse and two formal gardens. https://www.parkmccullough.org.
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