Vermont Consitituion Birthday Celebration - July 12

Vermont’s Constitution To Be Celebrated At Historic Site

Re-enactors to Give Tours

at Old Constitution House in Windsor

WINDSOR, Vt. – Vermont’s Constitution is having a birthday this weekend, and everyone is invited to join in the celebration at the state historic site where it was born. 

On Sunday July 12, the Old Constitution House in Windsor, the Birthplace of Vermont, celebrates “1777 Constitution Day” from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with period re-enactors at the site.

 “Vermont’s Constitution was ahead of its time, and paying tribute to it is a fitting way to celebrate our state’s early history,” said William Jenney, Regional Historic Site Administrator for the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. “And of course, the story of the Constitution, born amidst storms and war, is a compelling tale.”

 In early July 1777, delegates to the Windsor Convention adopted Vermont’s constitution literally “amidst a baptism of thunder, lightning, and rain” as news of the British invasion on the western side of the Republic reached Windsor.

“News of the American army’s withdrawal from Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Hubbardton reached Windsor just as the constitutional delegates had adjourned for the day at Elijah West’s tavern,” Jenney said.

 The group almost immediately disbanded to respond to the threat, he said. But a sudden violent thunderstorm delayed them long enough so that the Constitution could be voted on and adopted, and West’s tavern soon became known as the Old Constitution House, now a state-owned historic site. 

 The Old Constitution House has teamed with the 1777 Republic of Vermont Committee for this year’s celebration.  The public is invited to join re-enactors and traditional artisans at the old tavern where it all began, where guides in period attire will give tours that focus on Vermont’s early years and the first constitution in America to prohibit slavery.   

The event culminates with “Vermont’s Revolutionary Trek” – a symbolic relay from Hubbardton Battlefield to Windsor’s Constitutional Convention.  The relay is scheduled to leave Hubbardton on July 12 at 9:00 a.m.; the “news” about the British invasion will reach Windsor at 4:00 p.m. 

The Old Constitution House State Historic Site is located at 16 North Main Street in Windsor. The site is open through October 12, Saturday, Sunday and Monday holidays, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  For further information call (802) 672-3773, or visit the state-owned historic sites online at www.HistoricVermont.org/sites