Vermont Historical Landscape Change

The landscape Change Program is an archive of paired historic and recent photos
of Vermont landscapes. The program is funded by the National Science Foundation
to digitally document how the Vermont landscape has changed over time.

The landscape of Vermont has changed considerably since it first emerged from
the ocean during the collision of huge tectonic plates. For a time,
geologically speaking, sediments that became Vermont had been in a warm
tropical sea at the equator. Slowly they had moved north. Mountains were born
and began to erode. Massive glaciers more than a kilometer thick blanketed
Vermont. Soon after the glaciers left, Native Americans inhabited the area.
Colonial settlers moved in, clearing the land and leaving just a quarter of the
total area forested, making way for agriculture, then sheep, then dairy.
Hundreds of hill farms sprang up and many were later abandoned as western soils
called. Now the Vermont landscape is mostly forested and yet increasingly
developed. The face of Vermont has changed dramatically over time. The shared
appreciation and acknowledgement of this rich landscape history is the goal of
this project.

[Summary provided by the University of Vermont.]