Editing White River Junction, Vermont (section)

==History==
The village has long had a role in transportation, primarily as a [[junction (rail)|railroad junction]].  From the arrival of the first railroads in the late 1840s until rail diminished in importance in the 1950s and 1960s, White River Junction was the most important railroad community in Vermont.<ref>[http://www.preserveamerica.gov/11-23-07PAcommunity-whiteriverjunctionVT.html Preserve America Community: White River Junction, Vermont], [[Preserve America]] website, accessed July 21, 2009</ref> Its original importance was due to its location at the confluence of the [[White River (Vermont)|White River]] with the [[Connecticut River]]. In 1803 Elias Lyman built a bridge across the Connecticut from the north bank of the White River to [[West Lebanon, New Hampshire]].<ref name="NRnom">{{cite web |title=White River Junction Historic District |url=http://www.crjc.org/heritage/V11-8.htm |website=www.crjc.org}}</ref>

The local population remained quite low until the arrival of the railroad in the 1840s. Five different railroad lines were laid through the village site between 1847 and 1863 (the [[Vermont Central Railway]] and [[Connecticut River Railroad]] in 1847, the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad in 1848, the Northern New Hampshire Railroad in 1849, and the [[Woodstock Railroad]] in 1863), creating an eight-track crossing that was served by 50 passenger trains daily.<ref name=NRnom/><ref name="hartford-vt.org">[http://www.hartford-vt.org/content/history/ Brief History - Town of Hartford Vermont] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819115828/http://www.hartford-vt.org/content/history/ |date=2012-08-19 }}. Hartford-vt.org. Retrieved on 2013-08-02.</ref> In 1849, the village's first [[railroad depot]] was built, and local farmer Samuel Nutt arranged to buy and dismantle a hotel in [[Enfield, New Hampshire]], and move it to his farm on the other side of the railroad tracks from the depot. His hotel, named the Junction House, was the first of three hotels to occupy the site, which now is home to the Coolidge Hotel, built in 1924.<ref name=NRnom/>

White River Junction hosted the annual [[Vermont State Fair]] from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th century. A special rail spur carried visitors uphill from the station to the fairgrounds.<ref name="hartford-vt.org"/>