(Posted for Tom Hughes by Admin.)
The public is invited to a gathering for all those interested in the 1776 Hubbardton Military Road. This get-together will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 29, 2011 inside the wheelchair-accessible Visitor’s Center at the Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Site in East Hubbardton, located some seven miles north of U.S. route 4 and six miles east of Vermont highway 30.
The 1776 road that was built between Mount Independence and the Otter Creek falls at Rutland had an important military past. But will its route eventually be ignored or will it be re-discovered and remembered by future peacetime generations? Many Vermont residents hope that it will someday be mapped using modern technologies. Mapping the +30-mile route would honor the efforts of the road-building patriots whose efforts contributed to the American victory in the War for Independence.
A half-dozen speakers will each devote about three minutes apiece to discussing the route of this ancient road as it crossed through each township: Orwell, Benson, Hubbardton, Castleton, West Rutland, and Rutland Town. The discussion leaders are (west-to-east) Steve Zeoli, Jim Rowe, Carl Fuller (our host), Tom Hughes, Jim Moore, and Elaine Purdy. The most research into the history and location of the road was conducted and gathered during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s by the late Joseph and Mabel Wheeler of Benson. Their papers were given to the Vermont Historical Society.
It is hoped that teachers of history, scout leaders, historical society members, property owners, town officials, history buffs, and hikers will attend the October 29 meeting. The November-December issue of VERMONT Magazine will include an article about the Hubbardton Military Road.
The year 2011 marks 235 years since the Hubbardton Military Road was constructed, providing overland access between the 1776 patriot fort at Mount Independence on Lake Champlain and the 1759 Crown Point Road at Rutland.
Free refreshments will be available. Anyone with a question may telephone Tom Hughes at 802-388-2967.