BENNINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont’s first town was founded on this day in 1749, long before the state even existed. New Hampshire Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth issued his first land grant west of the Connecticut River for a town carrying his name — Bennington.
Wentworth would go on to issue 135 land grants in the territory that was also claimed by New York. That boundary dispute would lead to the formation of Vermont as an independent republic.
