Early
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Mount
Equinox, which towers to the
west directly above the
charming little village of
Manchester, Vermont , is one of
the highest
mountains in southern Vermont,
if not in all of southern New
England.
Certainly , it is at least the
highest mountain accessible by
automobile in this region.
There are many legends
concerning the name “Equinox”.
The one commonly
accepted states that a certain
Captain Partridge, at the time
Director
of the mellifluously entitled “
American Literary Scientific and
Military Academy,” led a troop
of cadets who
marched from Norwich, Vermont,
to what is now Manchester and
ascended
the mountain on September 19,
1823, for the purpose of making
some
barometric observations. Captain
Partridge fixed the altitude of
the
mountain at 3,807 feet above sea
level which was surprisingly
accurate
for the times, the present
altitude being 3,848 feet. The
story goes
that since the ascent of the
mountain was made at
approximately the
time of the autumnal equinox,
the mountain was thereafter
referred to
as “Equinox Mountain”.
With the anecdote concerning
Captain Partridge exploded, some
research
was attempted on the origin of
the word “Equinox”, The answer
finally
seems to be that it is truly a
corruption either of the Indian
word
“Akwanok” or “Ekwanok”. These
words can be freely translated
to mean
the top or the place where the
very top is - an appropriate
name in
either case.
Since
Equinox was the
highest mountain overlooking the
Vermont valley that extends from
Bennington to Rutland , it was
naturally the object of much
attention
on the part of the early
settlers. In fact, that section
of the valley
where the towns of Manchester
and Arlington are now located
was known
as the “Seven Mile Swamp”.
Therefore, the early roads from
Bennington
to Rutland kept well up on the
slope of the foothills in order
to avoid
the marshy land and many brooks
they would otherwise have to
cross down
in the valley , and most of the
early settlers laid out their
pastures
and holdings on the slope of the
mountains; first, to avoid the
Indians
who never went up on the high
mountains; secondly to avoid
malaria
which they knew to be associated
with swampy lands.
At a very early date, roads were
built through the gaps on the
south
and north sides of Equinox, the
former being known as “Southeast
Corners” and the latter as “
Beartown”, names they retain to
this day.
It was not until sometime toward
the middle of the last century
that a
wagon road was built to higher
altitudes, when along about 1860
or 1870
Frank Orvis and a group of
Manchester residents built a
road from
Beartown Gap to Lookout Rock
directly above Manchester. This
road ,
which did not start from the
bottom of the mountain nor reach
the top,
was approximately 1,600 feet in
altitude.
The actual
summit could
be reached from the end of the
road by a trail about 3/4 of a
mile
long, but since there already
was a splendid view from Lookout
Rock
therefore the road was never
extended beyond the rock to the
summit. A
small structure known as the
“Mountain House” was built and
used as a
shelter for many years. Because
of the costly maintenance
and the roads
unsuitability to more
modern traffic , this road
became obsolete in the early
1900’s and has
long since fallen into disuse
although its route still can be
readily
discerned by foot.
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