Milton, Vermont, USA
1886 Milton

The town of Milton, situated on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, is in the northwestern corner of Chittenden county, and is bounded north by Georgia in Franklin county, east by Westford, south by Colchester, and west by Lake Champlain. Its name is supposed to have been given to it in honor of the blind author of “Paradise Lost,” as many of the towns in New England and throughout the east were named from English originals before the separation of the colonies from the mother country. The charter of the town was granted by Governor Benning WENTWORTH, of New Hampshire, on the 8th of June, 1763...

Since the first settlement of the town a most radical change has taken place in the nature of its principal interest Many of the early settlers turned their attention to cutting and preparing for the Quebec market the pine timber that covered the surface of nearly the entire town. Accordingly, mills were erected on every available site, and rafts of lumber were continually floating down the lake and through the rivers Sorel and St. Lawrence to the great Canadian market. After the opening of the Champlain Canal, in 1824, much of this timber found its way to New York; and so extensively did the early settlers engage in clearing the forests, that not many years sufficed to leave the surface nearly destitute of heavy timber. The streams, therefore, shrank in volume, water privileges were destroyed, and the people were forced to direct their energies to the more quiet activities of farm life. Compared with its former manufacturing importance, therefore, Milton can scarcely be called a manufacturing town. The most important industry in town is that of Jed P. CLARK, whose father, Joseph CLARK, in 1845 built the saw and grist-mills now standing, having purchased the site of Warren HILL. The saw-mill, which originally had an up-and-down saw, is now supplied with circular and gang saws, and has the capacity for cutting a large amount of lumber. The grist-mill operates six runs of stones, and is used as a custom mill. The site has always been a prominent location for milling industries...

History of Chittenden County, Vermont With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers
Edited By W. S. Rann, Syracuse, N. Y. D. Mason & Co., Publishers, 1886

Visit Milton, Vermont, USA
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.