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() is a city in the U.S. state of Vermont that serves as the state capital and the shire town (county seat) of Washington County. As the capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, seat of the legislative branch of Vermont government. The population was 8,035 at the 2000 census. By population, it is the smallest state capital in the United States. Montpelier is also home to the Vermont History Museum and Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Chartered by the Vermont General Assembly on August 14, 1781, the town was granted to Timothy Bigelow and 58 others. The first permanent settlement began in May of 1787, when Colonel Jacob Davis and General Parley Davis arrived from Charlton, Massachusetts. General Davis surveyed the land, while Colonel Davis cleared forest and erected a large log house on the west side of the North Branch of the Winooski River. His family moved in the following winter.
It was Colonel Davis who selected the name Montpelier after the French city Montpellier. There was a general enthusiasm for things French as a result of the country's aid during the American Revolution. The settlement grew quickly, and by 1791 the population reached 117. On November 8, 1805, the General Assembly voted to constitute Montpelier as its seat of government. The legislature met at Woodstock in 1807, then moved into its new capitol the next year. Incorporated in 1818, the village became a center for government and trade.
The town also developed into a center for manufacturing, especially after the Vermont Central Railroad opened here on June 20, 1849—the same year East Montpelier was set off as a separate town. Falls on the Winooski River provided water power for mills, and industries produced lumber, flour, sashes and blinds, carriages, sleighs, hats and caps, furniture and silver plate. There was an iron foundry. Processing granite, mainly from the quarries in nearby Barre, was once a major part of the city's economy and continues to some degree. Montpelier had the last remaining clothespin manufacturer in the United States. It closed in 2006. Today, government and tourism are principal businesses. The Vermont History Museum, operated in The Pavilion by the Vermont Historical Society, is an attraction.