Tinmouth, Vermont
Tinmouth is a quiet farming town sandwiched between Tinmouth Mountain and the Tinmouth Channel, which gives rise to the Clarendon River. A lot of community is packed into its tiny village. Many of the surrounding buildings in the town’s are reflective of life in a rural 19th-century village. The United Methodist Church, a pristine example of the New England white steepled meetinghouse, the library, the town offices and the elementary school are just steps away from each other. Agricultural artifacts on display in a shed formerly used to shelter the carriage horses of church-goers is thanks to the efforts of the Historical Society, which plays an active role in preserving the stories of the town’s former residents and Civil War veterans.
Visitors from surrounding towns are drawn to the Old Firehouse for its concert series on selected Friday evenings on the spring and fall. Renovated by volunteers and funded by Historic Preservation and Vermont Arts Council grants, the venue hosts some of the area’s finest musicians. The Volunteer Fire Department has held its popular game supper for over 50 years. The Tinmouth Community Center holds regular contra dances and other activities. Both buildings are available to rent for Tinmouth residents, as is the town’s small cabin on Tinmouth Mountain. There’s also a community bake oven available to those who bring their own firewood. The Tinmouth Plant Sale has taken place each spring for over 25 years, and features locally grown flowers, herbs and vegetable plants to benefit the Tinmouth Scholarship Fund, which provides post high-school scholarships to residents.
The Tinmouth Snack Bar is a popular spot, and offers breakfast and lunch in its dining room as well as ice cream and snacks at its take-out window. Outdoor enthusiasts appreciate the wild character of the Tinmouth Channel wildlife area; although there are no official trails, it offers opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking, canoeing and wildlife viewing.
History
Tinmouth’s early days as a settlement began about 1761. Industry revolved primarily around its rich deposits of iron ore, which was used in local foundries and transported to other areas for the manufacture of frying pans, files, nails, saws – and possibly cannon balls and muskets. There were also mills and tanneries, but when the town was bypassed by the railroads, industry gradually gave way in the 19th century to dairy farming.
Education
Mill River Unified School District
Pre-K to Grade 6: Choice of Tinmouth Mountain, Walllingford Elementary, Clarendon Elementary or Shrewbury Mountain Schools.
Grades 7-12: Mill River Union High School
Local Attractions
Tinmouth Old Firehouse Stage
Tinmouth Library
Tinmouth Channel Wildlife Management Area
Local Businesses
Tinmouth Snack Bar
Government
Phone/Internet/Television
VTEL, state-of-the-art fiber optics
Comcast high speed digital
Houses of Worship
Nearest Medical Facilities
Rutland Regional Medical Center
Proximity
Tinmouth is a 35-minute drive to Manchester, 29 minutes to Rutland; The Tinmouth area is about an hour an hour and a half to the Saratoga and Albany NY areas. The major metropolitan areas of New York, Boston and Montreal are reachable within four and a half hours.
Public Transportation
Airports: Rutland and Burlington VT and Albany NY.
Train stations: Rutland and Albany, NY