It's since become an annual occasion: the next Green Up Day will take place on May 2nd, 2026!

On Saturday, April 18th, tens of thousands of Vermonters turned out to begin cleaning up the roads. The state closed the highway for the morning, and Gov. Davis toured the state by car and helicopter to visit the volunteers.

The annual cleanup day got its start in 1969 when a Burlington Free Press reporter named Robert Babcock approached Governor Deane Davis about the accumulation of trash on the roads and suggested that the state sponsor a clean-up day. Davis liked the idea and set up a committee to plan a day in 1970.

a white hard hat with a green piece of tape on it

56 years ago today: Vermont holds its first Green Up Day event in 1970.

Here's an item from that first day: a hard hat worn by Gov. Davis, with signatures all over it.

a black and white picture of the steamship ticonderoga

The steamboat Ticonderoga was launched on Lake Champlain on this day in 1906. It was the last steamboat built along Lake Champlain.

The boat operated on the lake almost 50 years and was moved to the Shelburne Museum in 1955.

He was known as the "Sleeping Sentinel". While on guard duty in Washington D.C. in 1861, he fell asleep at his post and was later court martialed and sentenced to death. However, President Abraham Lincoln issued a pardon, stopping the execution.

William Scott, a Union soldier from Groton dies during the Battle at Lee's Mill in 1862.

Thanks to a couple of generous donations, we now have a ton of used books available at the VHS Bookstore about Vermont and its history!

You can find them at the VHS bookstore in Montpelier, and online here: vermont-historical-society-museum.square.site/shop/vhs-use...

Vermont History Day 2026 is underway at St. Michael’s College!

This is our biggest event of the year, where hundreds of students come to present their projects for a chance to advance to this year’s National History Day competition!

A piece of wood that reads: No. 2. - Pieces of wood from the house in which Gen. Lee signed his papers of surrender, Appomattox Courthhouse, Va.

Here's an item from that moment: a piece of wood that was part of the McLean House where Lee and Grant met for the surrender. It was collected by Major Charles F. Branch of Orwell, who served in the war in the 9th Vermont.

It was the beginning of the end of the war: several more battles would play out in the weeks and months that followed.

A painting depicting the surrender at Appomattox court house .

On the morning of April 9th, 1865, Union forces defeated the Confederate Army of North Virginia at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, prompting General Robert E. Lee to surrender to his counterpart, General Ulysses S. Grant.

Members should be receiving their copies soon, and we will be posting up the articles to our blog in the coming weeks. To get it and to support our work, sign up as a member here: vermonthistory.org/membership/

Members should be receiving their copies soon, and will be posting up the articles to our blog in the coming weeks.

Members should be receiving their copies soon, and will be posting up the articles to our blog in the coming weeks. To get it and to support our work, sign up as a member here:

a hand holding a copy of a magazine called History Connections, with a tree on the cover.

The latest edition of History Connections is headed to member mailboxes! This is our “forests” issue, and it features articles from our staff about VHS and our work!

A copy of uncommon law on a bookshelf

Author Paul S. Gillies stopped by the VHS bookstore in Montpelier and signed some copies of his book Uncommon Law, Ancient Roads, and Other Ruminations on Vermont Legal History!

You can order your copy online here: vermont-historical-society-museum.square.site/product/unco...

A rock suspended in a clear sphere

The Artemis II mission is slated to launch tomorrow (April 1st) at 6:24PM. If it does, it'll be the first time people have traveled out to the Moon in 52 years!

With this milestone, we've placed the moon rocks that we hold in our collection on display at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier!

The strike ended up lasting for more than a month, and the state resorted to calling in the National Guard. The two sides eventually called in an arbitrator and eventually came to a deal that saw the quarries reopen later that summer.

The workers had a considerable amount of support from the community, but things quickly turned when the quarries began hiring strikebreakers, which led to a number of violent clashes.

A black and white image of a military vehicle on a street with a crowd of people off to the side.

On April 1st, 1933, members of the Quarry Workers and Stonecutters Unions went on strike to protest a 35% cut in their wages, shutting down six of the seven granite companies in Barre.

You can now preorder the eBook edition of our next book, When The Trees Came Back: The Great Battle to Save Vermont's Forests by Robert A. Mello! (Currently Amazon, iBooks, and Kobo, with more to be added soon)

vermonthistory.org/vermont-hist...

Out of this world With NASA's Artemis II mission preparing to launch this spring, VHS brings out two objects from far beyond Vermont's borders: rocks from the Moon's surface recovered by the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 mis...

These were samples taken during the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 missions in 1969 and 1972, displayed along with small Vermont state flags that were flown on each mission.

You can read more about them over on our blog: vermonthistory.org/vermont-hist...

A rock suspended in a clear sphere

The Artemis II mission is slated to launch tomorrow (April 1st) at 6:24PM. If it does, it'll be the first time people have traveled out to the Moon in 52 years!

With this milestone, we've placed the moon rocks that we hold in our collection on display at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier!

Retired judge writes about saving Vermont forests Long recognized as the Green Mountain State, Vermont’s hillsides were once nearly completely bare, and a green mountain future was not guaranteed.

Thanks to The Times Argus for profiling our upcoming book, When The Trees Came Back: The Epic Battle to Save Vermont's Forests by Robert Mello!

The book will be available on April 21st, and you can preorder your copy from our bookstore now!

You can read the article here:

Redesigning Our Conversation Station By Danielle Harris-Burnett, Museum Educator “Hello, hello, you’ve got the wrong number,” a third grader places the phone receiver back on the wall. There’s something fascinating about holding it, mim...

We're in the process of upgrading our conversation stations at the Vermont History Museum!

You can read more about the updates here: vermonthistory.org/vermont-hist...

Between 1921 and 1962, he taught at Breadloaf in Middlebury, and maintained strong connections to Vermont. After his death in January 1963, he was buried in Bennington's Old Bennington Cemetery.

A portrait of Robert Frost, from the National Portrait Gallery, taken in 1955 by Clara Sipprell.

Poet Robert Frost was born in San Francisco on this day in 1874. He sold his first poem in 1894 ("My Butterfly. An Elegy"), and eventually moved to New Hampshire and England before landing in Shaftsbury, Vermont in the 1920s.

Baker and his wife Desire were injured in the attack (Baker lost his thumb) and he was captured. Desire escaped and alerted their allies, and as Baker and his captors headed to Albany, he was rescued near Troy and returned to Vermont.

On this day in Vermont history: New York officials attacked Ethan Allen's cousin Remember Baker at his Arlington home in 1772.
Allen, Baker and their compatriots had been wanted by New York officials after they fought against efforts to evict settlers from their land granted by New Hampshire.

On March 21st, he wrote “the greatest flood in history” was beginning to recede and thanks to the dam (completed just the year before in 1935) they were able to get out easily.