Although Vermont was one of the last New England states to form, its oldest town is almost 300 years old.
Westminster, right on the border of New Hampshire, was founded in 1735 under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. According to the Westminster Historical Society , the town’s first permanent settlement started in 1751 with people from New Hampshire, and New Hampshire incorporated the town as Westminster in 1752. Westminster stayed a part of New Hampshire until 1762, a decree of new borders ordered by King George III of England made the town a part of New York.
However, the original settlers of Vermont were free-willed and spirited, and they resented the unfair way the New Yorkers handled their land. In 1775, a group of farmers at County House Court stood up to the loyalist New Yorkers in defense of keeping the land they had worked hard to obtain. Now known as the Westminster Massacre , the dispute led to the death of two Vermont men. The spirit of patriotism and bravery shown by the poor farmers causes many historians to regard this event as the first bloodshed of the Revolutionary War.