Constitution House

Constitution House is a Vermont historical marker in Windsor, Windsor County.

16 Main Street, Windsor

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

Windsor, settled in 1764, became the political center for the Upper Connecticut Valley River. Here the Constitution of the Free and Independent State of Vermont was adopted at the tavern of Elijah West on July 8, 1777. This constitution was the first to prohibit slavery and establish universal manhood suffrage. Vermont was an independent republic until 1791, when it was admitted to the union as the 14th state.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

1760 · New Engelland, New York, New Yersey und Pensilvania (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1781 · An Accurate map of New Hampshire in New England, from a late survey (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1795 · Vermont. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1797 · Vermont. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1892 · Sullivan County. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Vermont, 1795, covering the location of Constitution House, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Vermont, 1795, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

Marker data: Vermont Division for Historic Preservation

More markers nearby

Dinahunder 1 mi
Indian Stones8 mi
William Jarvis -- Consul to Lisbon was first to import Merino sheep to U.S.9 mi
Green Mountain Perkins Academy9 mi

On the National Register nearby

Old Constitution House110 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.