Its motto: Freedom and Unity.

Its nickname: Green Mountain State.

Green mountains, green valleys - America's northern Eden

To find solace from the hectic life of cities and suburbs, Americans often head to places where, it is said, "time seems to have stopped." In Vermont, time not only stopped, it went backward. Hills and valleys that were once stripped bare of trees for agriculture turned green again as forests reclaimed abandoned fields and pastures. Moose, salmon, and the peregrine falcon, which were chased from the region decades ago, have started to come back.

The poet Robert Frost, who lived for a while in South Shaftsbury in the 1920's, said that Vermont is "a state in a natural state."

Vermonters had Ice Age glaciers to thank for the abundance of stones in their soil. The glaciers also carved the Green Mountains into a gentle range forming a kindly mountamscape.

Although the Green Mountains give the state its character, they do not completely dominate its topography. More than half of the state's western border is formed by Lake Champlain, the sixth-largest lake in the country. Beyond its shores lie the Lake Champlain lowlands. Not only is this area the most fertile farmland in the state, it is one of Vermont's most picturesque places.

The northeastern corner of the state is another world entirely. Isolated, with very few roads, this sparsely settled expanse of 2,000 square miles is called the Northeast Kingdom. White and black spruce flourish in its cold climate. The timber industry provides employment for the few people who make their home here.

Vermont is a meeting ground of temperate-zone and arctic plant life. Dogwoods flower in the state's milder areas, while in the north one can find holdouts of alpine tundra left over from the Ice Age.

Today the sugar maple is the most common hardwood species in Vermont. It is sap from this tree that gives Vermont its maple syrup and it is the sugar maple that puts on the spectacular show of reds and purples for which the state is famous. Botanists who have studies the secret workings of autumnal beauty have discovered that an accumulation of sugar gives these leaves their vibrant colors.

Vermont boasts the country's marble production. The world's largest granite quarry, 350 feet deep and covering 20 acres, is in Barre. The Lincoln Memorial is made of Vermont marble. The state also produces over 100 million pounds of cheese a year, including its famous Cheddar.

In 1791 Vermont joined the Union as the 14th state.

(”The USA Diversity of 50 States”)