About Bristol
Bristol is a town of about 3,800 people where the Champlain Valley meets the Green Mountains. Chartered in 1762, it has a compact historic village on the New Haven River, a lively downtown and rivers, trails and national forest close at hand.
Chartered
June 26, 1762
Population
3,782 2020 Census
Size
About 42 square miles
County
Addison
Gateway to the Green Mountains
The sign at the edge of town calls Bristol the “Gateway to the Green Mountains,” and it fits. The town runs from Champlain Valley farmland in the west to the wooded slopes of the Green Mountains in the east. West of the village is a plateau that was the shoreline of Lake Vermont and the Champlain Sea after the last ice age. To the east rises the wooded Hogback ridge, and the Green Mountain National Forest begins just south of Main Street and the New Haven River.
Farms, forestry and other work on the land surround the village, and the same setting makes Bristol a base for swimming, fishing, hiking, paddling and skiing.
Our story
On June 26, 1762, Benning Wentworth, the colonial governor of New Hampshire, chartered the Town of Pocock to Samuel Averill and 62 associates. The first known European resident, John Broadt, built a cabin about a mile west of the present village in 1773. The first permanent settlers, Samuel Stewart and Eden Johnson and their wives, arrived from Skenesboro, New York, in 1786.
Pocock held its first town meeting on March 3, 1788. On October 21, 1789, the Legislature changed the name to Bristol, possibly after the manufacturing city in Rhode Island. The first federal census, in 1791, counted 211 people. By 1900 Bristol had about 2,000, and it held near that number until the 1960s, when it grew by about 500 people a decade until 1990. It has stayed at about 3,800 since.
Forges, factories and mills once lined the New Haven River. Floods and fires took nearly all of them. The Bristol Manufacturing Company, once a nationally known coffin maker, was badly damaged in the 1927 flood and went bankrupt in 1937. Fires in 1898, 1914 and 1924 burned most of the blocks along Main Street, and the village rebuilt each time. A railroad station, built in 1892, still stands at 83 North Street.
The village
The Bristol Village Historic District is a large, well-kept mix of 19th and early 20th century buildings. The village grew from a crossroads with a rectangular green into a loose grid of streets. The Main Street block of two-story Italianate storefronts is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Bristol has held a State Downtown Designation since 2006.
Queen Anne municipal building with a corner bell tower. Home of the Town Offices and Town Meeting.
Built as a Congregational church, later a school. Home of the Bristol Historical Society since 1991.
Lawrence Memorial Library, 1911
A gift of William A. Lawrence in memory of his late wives, Lockie Partch Lawrence and Minnie Peet Lawrence.
Fountain, lighted bandstand, playground, Peace Garden and three veterans memorials.
Traditions
- Bristol Band concerts. The community band has played in one form or another since about 1870, and its Wednesday evening summer concerts on the Green are a Bristol fixture.
- Fourth of July. Reportedly the oldest continuing Fourth of July celebration in Vermont, with the Great Outhouse Race, a big parade, fireworks and an afternoon on the Green.
- Downtown events. Bristol CORE runs the Pocock Rocks Music Festival & Street Fair, the Harvest Festival and other events through the year.
- History and arts. The Bristol Historical Society, formed in 1977, keeps a museum at Howden Hall. Art on Main is a cooperative arts and crafts gallery on Main Street, and NEAT, Northeast Addison Television, has covered local life since 2003.
Outdoors
- Bartlett Falls on the New Haven River, Town land that once made electricity for the village, is one of New England’s best-known swimming holes.
- Memorial Park on Route 17 has wooden steps down into a gorge. Sycamore Park and Eagle Park sit along the New Haven River.
- Bristol Cliffs Wilderness, 3,750 acres of the Green Mountain National Forest, has wide views of the Champlain Valley and two secluded ponds.
- Bristol Pond (Lake Winona) is a mile long, good for paddling and fishing. The Watershed Center opens more than 1,000 acres on Plank Road to the public.
See Parks & Recreation for maps and park rules.
Town government
Bristol runs on Vermont’s town meeting tradition. Each March, voters gather at Holley Hall to decide the Town budget and other questions. A five-member Selectboard governs between Town Meetings and hires the Town Administrator, and volunteer boards and committees handle planning, zoning, conservation, energy and more.
Bristol’s governing board
When it is, how it works and the Town Report
Boards, Commissions & Committees
Volunteer boards and how to join one
Every board’s meetings, 2011 to today
Live, work and visit
Bristol CORE’s guide to shops, dining and events
Library, history, recreation, help with food, health and housing
Mount Abraham Unified School District
Bristol CORE, the Revolving Loan Fund and business help
Property taxes, water and sewer bills and more
Sources: Bristol Town Plan (2020 update) and the 2020 U.S. Census.