While on a road trip of the northeast states, my goal was to visit a National Park Service property in each state. Vermont was tricky, as it only has one. The Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historic Park.

I had been to this site before, on a sister trip when Janet was working as a Ranger nearby. At that time, we toured the house and gardens. This time, I spent most of my time on the other side of the street, exploring the farm, and going through the huge museum that is there. I don't think the museum was there the last time I visited. Inside, there is a large theater, and a 30 minute video explaining the role of each of the three families that lived here. They each were dedicated to preserving the land, and were interested in environmental issues, which is interesting, and helped to save some of the land in this part of the world.

Billings was particularly interesting to me. He actually bought the property from Marsh, then left and went west. He was the president of the Northern Railroad at the time that the railroad was taken to the west, and the city of Billings Montana is named for him! When he got back, he hired a professional farmer to manage the 1000 acres. This guy was instrumental in developing environmentally healthier ways of farming. Billing's granddaughter married a Rockefeller, which is how the Rockefellers came to be part of the history.

#Vermont