Vermont's Ten Cities

Did all of Vermont's ten current cities derive from incorporated villages within their respective towns?

No. In most cases, however, Vermont's cities were incorporated villages within their respective towns, before becoming distinct municipalities through special legislative acts.

The following list provides basic information about existing cities in the following order: name of city, name of county within which the city lies, and year of incorporation (all cities were chartered by a special act of the Legislature with adoption of such charter act by local voters usually required before the act took effect).

Vermont's ten cities are:

• Barre City (Washington County; 1895)
• Burlington (Chittenden County; 1865)
• Essex Junction, City of (Chittenden County; 2022)
• Montpelier (Washington County; 1895)
• Newport City (Orleans County; 1918)
• Rutland City (Rutland County; 1893)
• St. Albans City (Franklin County; 1897)
• South Burlington (Chittenden County; 1971)
• Vergennes (Addison County; 1788/1794)
• Winooski (Chittenden County; 1922)

Vergennes, Vermont’s first city, was formed from parts of New Haven, Panton, and Ferrisburgh through a 1788 legislative act. The act may have been in response to St. John de Creveoeur's 1785 letter to Ethan Allen requesting the creation of Vergennes and other municipalities in recognition of France's role in winning the American Revolution.

The City of Burlington was an unincorporated village within the Town of Burlington before becoming a city in 1864. South Burlington was a town prior to incorporation as a city. The Town of South Burlington was, in turn, the remnant of the old Town of Burlington after the unincorporated village of Burlington incorporated as a city in 1864.

Vermont’s most recent city, the City of Essex Junction, was formed after a series of measures on whether the Village of Essex Junction should break away from the Town of Essex to become a city or whether the Village should be disincorporated and the Town, as a single municipality, become a city. Ultimately, voters of the Village of Essex Junction approved the creation of the City and the adoption of a new City charter, which was brought to the General Assembly for its consideration during the 2021-2022 session.