List of city nicknames in Vermont

This partial list of city nicknames in Vermont compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities, towns, and villages in Vermont are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to municipal governments, local people, outsiders or their tourism boards or chambers of commerce. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity.^[1] Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth"^[2] are also believed to have economic value.^[1] Their economic value is difficult to measure,^[1] but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.^[2]

Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency.

• Barre
  • Granite Capital of the World.^[3][4]
  • Scary Barre (derogatory) ^[5]
• Burlington
  • The Queen City.^[6][7]
  • The People's Republic of Burlington (used when Bernie Sanders was mayor).^[8]
  • B-town
• Montpelier – Montpeculiar
• Rutland
  • The Marble City.^[3][9]
  • RutVegas.^[10]
• St. Albans – Rail City.^[11]
• White River Junction – River City^[12]
• Winooski – The Onion City^[7]
• Wallingford - Wally World

See also

• List of city nicknames in the United States

References

1. Muench, David "Wisconsin Community Slogans: Their Use and Local Impacts" Archived 2013-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, December 1993, accessed April 10, 2007.
2. Alfredo Andia, Branding the Generic City :) Archived 2008-05-21 at the Wayback Machine, MU.DOT magazine, September 10, 2007
3. Claims to Fame - Rocks Archived 2008-02-18 at the Wayback Machine, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
4. Zezima, Kate "Headstones Too Go Global, and One City Pays the Price", The New York Times, October 25, 2006, accessed April 15, 2007. "Barre, Vt. — This city of 9,000 bills itself as the “granite capital of the world,” its economic foundation built early in the last century with the light gray rock from nearby quarries."
5. "The nickname Barre City would like you to stop using". Vermont Public. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
6. City of Burlington Police Home Page, accessed April 15, 2007. "The Burlington Police Department was commissioned in 1865 to provide law enforcement services to the Queen City."
7. Montpelier Wants a Nickname Archived 2012-04-06 at the Wayback Machine, WCAX-TV, April 17, 2009: "Burlington is known as the Queen City; Winooski is the Onion City and Montpelier... well the capital is looking for a nickname..."
8. Nichols, John. " Being Like Bernie", The Nation, August 15, 2005, accessed April 15, 2007. "After almost thirty-five years of close to constant campaigning, first as the gadfly candidate of the left-wing Liberty Union Party for senator and governor in the 1970s, then as the radical mayor of "The People's Republic of Burlington" in the 1980s and, since 1990, as the only independent in modern history to repeatedly win a US House seat, Sanders has forged relationships with generations of Vermont voters, many of whom echo the sentiments of Warren attorney Mark Grosby, who says, 'I used to be a diehard Republican. Now, I'm a diehard for Bernie.'"
9. Barna, Ed. "Rutland area continues broad economic expansion", Vermont Business Magazine, June 1, 2001, accessed April 15, 2007. "The extraction industry, historically important for a place nicknamed the Marble City, made headlines due to the OMYA marble grinding company's efforts to help meet a surging worldwide demand for calcium carbonate."
10. Flagg, Kathryn (February 1, 2012). "Leaving RutVegas". Seven Days. Retrieved June 2, 2013. Defensive, a bit resistant to outsiders and staunchly self-reliant, Rutlanders bristle at the pejorative moniker and its attendant connotations. ... For decades, the blue-collar railroad town has battled a reputation as the unofficial capital of drugs and crime in Vermont. To outsiders, it's a gritty place — the part of Vermont where your tires might get slashed. Where you should lock your doors. Where, at best, there's not much to do.
11. Discovering St. Albans - Vermont's "Rail City" Archived 2010-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 15, 2007. "St. Albans is called the “Rail City” because in 1855, the Central Vermont Railway (CVR) established its headquarters here."
12. "Town of Hartford Growth Center application" (PDF). 20 Dec 2009. p. 43. Retrieved 2011-08-10.