Shelburne, Vermont, USA
1886 Shelburne

SHELBURNE lies in the southwestern part of the county, and is bounded north by South Burlington and a part of Williston, east by St. George, south by Charlotte and a part of Hinesburg, and west by Lake Champlain. It was chartered by New Hampshire on the 18th of August, 1763...

It derived its name from that of a celebrated nobleman of the British Parliament, the Earl of Shelburne, who opposed the claims of the government of New York to the territory now comprised within the boundaries of Vermont. The original area of the town, according to its charter, was to consist of 23,500 acres, a little more than six miles square; but a mistake of the surveyors stripped it of much of its expected possessions. Two surveying parties, employed to run the lines of the lake towns, approached each other gradually from opposite directions, meeting-the party from the south in surveying Shelburne; the party from the north in surveying Burlington. It was then discovered that there was not land sufficient in both towns to satisfy the demands of each, and the lines of the surveyors overlapped. The town of Burlington having been granted about a month previous to Shelburne, held her claim by priority of charter. A portion of Potter's Point formerly belonged to Burlington, but in 1794, among numerous alterations in town boundaries made by the Legislature, this point was declared to be a part of Shelburne...

The surface of the town is irregular, but with only gentle waves which add to the beauty of the view, without detracting from the value of the land for cultivation. The crenellated outline of the lake here breaks in upon the land with such a deep indenture as to form a veritable cul-de-sac, called Shelburne Bay, which is bounded by the mainland and a point formerly known by the name of the first settler of the town, POTTIER. Another point was named in honor of another early settler, LOGAN. Not alone in beauty of scenery does Shelburne excel, though that in some respects is past description, but in richness and fertility of soil, which varies from a stiff clay to a fine sandy loam, producing in abundance the grains and grasses natural to this latitude, and in the western part of the town, the various fruits in plenty. The principal streams are La Plotte River and Cogman's Brook, with their several tribute rills and rivulets. La Plotte River enters the town from Charlotte on the south, and flows north into Shelburne Bay, affording water power at the falls from the beginning of settlement to the present. Its peculiar name is said to have been derived from a peculiar event. During the Revolutionary War a band of Indians numbering several hundreds concealed their canoes under a line of willows that extended along the mouth of the river, and went into the interior on an expedition for prisoners and plunder. During their absence the white men discovered their canoes riddled them with holes and replaced them in their former positions. From their ambush in the immediate vicinity, the patriots then watched for the return of the savages, upon which they poured into their gathering a volley of bullets which drove them precipitately to their canoes. No sooner were they in the middle of the stream than they learned too late that they could do naught but choose between death from drowning or from the deadly bullets of the white men. This successful coup de main bestowed upon the stream its significant title of La Plotte. Several arrow-heads and bullets have been found in this vicinity. Shelburne Pond, in the eastern part of the town, covers a little more than six hundred acres of ground, and because of its piscatorial and scenic virtues is a favorite resort of pleasure seekers during the summer season.

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

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