Return to homepage DID YOU KNOW? — fun facts The history of Essex Junction is important to our appreciation of our past and its relevance to our future…please feel free to send in more “fun facts”! Did you know?... That Essex Junction is the largest village in the state and the only one with a full-time manager? That the population of Essex and Essex Junction combined is second only to Burlington in the state of Vermont? That Ira Allen surveyed the area in 1773 on a trip up the Winooski river and that he owned much of the land in the village until the early 1800’s? That Lincoln Hall is the oldest building remaining in Essex Junction, built by “Green Mountain Boy” and first citizen Abram Stevens in 1820? That Abram Stevens fought with Ethan Allen in the Revolution, helped capture Fort Ticonderoga, and was close to General Montgomery when he was killed storming the citadel at Quebec City on New Year’s Eve, 1775? That the “Tarbox House” on the corner of Park and South Street is the oldest surviving house in the village? That the Park Street School is the oldest school in continuous use for educational purposes in the state of Vermont? That the Railroad, prominent in our history, came to Essex Junction (Painesville) in the 1850’s? That remnants of a rail line from Essex Jct. east to St. Johnsbury can still be seen on Mansfield Avenue, Briar Lane, and Rivendell? That there are residents of Essex Junction who remember singing to President Calvin Coolidge when they met his train in the 1920’s? That the Drury “Brickyard” produced tons of bricks used not only in village houses (the Drury’s brick house, rebuilt in the 1860’s still stands on Main St. directly across the street) but all over the world?