Fort Dummer

Fort Dummer was established in 1724 by Lt Governor William Dummer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The wooden fort was a northern outpost along the Connecticut River and one of the first permanent European settlements in what would become Vermont. Built to defend the colony against Abenaki and French attacks, it was a trading post from 1728 to 1750 while still manned by troops against skirmishes. Fort Dummer was garrisoned through the French & Indian War but abandoned in 1763 and dismantled by 1771. A granite monument was set to mark the original site of Fort Dummer in 1901 but was moved seven years later to the intersection of Vernon St and Cotton Mill Hill Rd before the 1909 completion of the Vernon Dam on the Connecticut River, which flooded the area.