MONTPELIER, a town of the United States, the capital
of Vermont (since 1805), and the county seat of Washington
county (since 1811), is situated in 44° 17′ N. lat. and 72°
36′ W. long., on the Winooski or Onion river, which falls
into Lake Champlain. It has a station on the Central
Vermont Railroad, and is the western terminus of the
Montpelier and Wells River and the Montpelier and White
River Railroads. The State-house, in the form of a Greek
cross with a dome and Doric portico, was erected at a cost
of $150,000, to replace the structure burned down in 1857. Under the portico stands a marble statue (by Larkin G. Mead) of Ethan Allen (1737-1789), the hero of Vermont. The State library contains 20,000 volumes. From 2411 in 1860 the population had increased to 3219 in 1880.