Editing Orwell, Vermont (section)

==History==

[[File:Orwell Congregational Church Feb 11.jpg|thumb|left|The [[First Congregational Church (Orwell, Vermont)|First Congregational Church]] in Orwell village]]
After the construction of [[Fort Independence (Vermont)|Fort Independence]] on [[Mount Independence (Vermont)|Mount Independence]] in 1775, rebel soldiers bravely manned the lesser fortifications of the Vermont-side defenses. While those soldiers billeted at [[Fort Ticonderoga]] enjoyed comparatively splendid conditions in the French-style fort, Mount Independence proved a trying and difficult environment for its small cadre of revolutionary defenders, who frequently returned to their farms in the surrounding countryside to tend to their homesteads.<ref>The Vermont Encyclopedia, "Fort Independence"</ref>  The fortress was passed between the British and Colonials, until it was eventually abandoned at the cessation of hostilities on the northern front of the war.

Orwell enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity after the war's conclusion, marking a time of great emotional uprising and town glee. However, these bright times would be marred by several major tragedies that coincided with the attempted industrialization of the area's farmlands in the 1870s, when several young men were lost in a thresher accident near what is now the intersection of Main Street and [[Vermont Route 22A|Route 22A]]. This tragedy was keenly remembered by the community, which banned industrial farming later that year in a special town meeting. Industrialized farm equipment was only allowed back into Orwell after the economic collapse of the early 1900s, and even then, special restrictions were placed to limit the capabilities of such farm instruments. The town's law against the use of "Modern Farm Machinery of All Kinds" was never actually repealed, and continues to be a curio law on the books that the town refuses to repeal.

Orwell attempted in the late 1990s to obtain a franchised fast-food restaurant, as a vital link in the food availability between [[Whitehall (village), New York|Whitehall, New York]], and [[Vergennes, Vermont]], but the residents of the surrounding townships blocked the move, claiming it would upset the rural beauty of the western Vermont countryside.<ref>''Orwell Examiner'', June 9, 1998</ref> Orwell is known as the Fortress of America. The town motto is "First in Revolution, First in Recreation".