Editing Windsor, Vermont (section)

==History==

One of the [[New Hampshire grants]], Windsor was chartered as a town on July 6, 1761, by colonial governor [[Benning Wentworth]]. It was first settled in August 1764 by Captain Steele Smith and his family from [[Farmington, Connecticut]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofwindsor00aldr/historyofwindsor00aldr_djvu.txt |title=ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRA |access-date=October 8, 2023}}</ref> In 1777, the signers of the [[Constitution of the Vermont Republic]] met at [[Old Constitution House]], a tavern at the time, to declare independence from the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] (the [[Vermont Republic]] would not become a state until 1791).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.windsorvt.org/history|title = History}}</ref>  In 1820, it was the state's largest town, a thriving center for [[trade]] and [[agriculture]]. In 1835, the first [[dam]] was built across Mill Brook to provide [[water power]]. Factories made [[gun]]s, [[machinery]], [[tinware]], [[furniture]] and [[horse harness|harnesses]]. The community is named for [[Windsor, Connecticut]].<ref name="Profile for Windsor, Vermont, VT"/>

In 1846, [[American Precision Museum|Robbins and Lawrence]] received a government contract to manufacture firearms. Using advanced machine tools to produce interchangeable parts, they and their associates established factories in the [[Connecticut River]] valley and throughout New England. Two factories, now both closed, sustained the economy of Windsor: Cone Automatic Machine Company and a [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company]] plant.

Windsor village began development at the end of the 18th century and achieved importance in Vermont history as the location of the framing of the constitution of Vermont. It is known as the birthplace of Vermont, where the state constitution was signed, and acted as the first capital until 1805 when [[Montpelier, Vermont|Montpelier]] became the official state capital.<ref name="Profile for Windsor, Vermont, VT"/>

Commerce prospered due to the village's location on the banks of the Connecticut River where several smaller streams run into it. The economy improved in the mid-19th century when Windsor became the first town in the state to break ground for the railroad with the construction of a rail depot. [[Windsor station (Vermont)|Windsor Station]] connected the town to out-of-state markets. It was after the railroad went through that the area was discovered by tourists.

Windsor's war memorial, the City Center Veterans Memorial, was created by sculptor [[Lawrence Nowlan]].<ref name=bmta>{{cite news|title=Sculptor commissioned to complete Joe Frazier statue has died|url=http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130802/NEWS03/708029923/0/FEATURES10|work=[[Barre Montpelier Times Argus]]|date=August 2, 2013|access-date=August 27, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221231935/http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130802/NEWS03/708029923/0/FEATURES10|archive-date=February 21, 2014}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="150px" >
File:Main Street, Windsor, VT.jpg|Main Street {{circa|1910}}
File:Windsor, Vermont (2675176211).jpg|Print of Windsor from 1886 by [[L.R. Burleigh]] with list of landmarks depicted
File:American_Precision_Museum_Windsor_Vermont.jpg|American Precision Museum is the old Robbins and Lawrence factory.
</gallery>