One might think that Vermont towns are all the same, but of course they aren't. Each town has its own distinguishing characteristics. In Calais the foremost characteristic is the geography. The hills and valleys of Calais are so arranged that there is no single population center. Instead there are distinct villages, each with its own social focus.
During the last decades of the 20th century Calais found itself changing from a town focused on agriculture to a bedroom town for the growing number of its residents who worked and played in Barre, Montpelier, or Burlington. It embraced a town wide elementary school and a union high school, accepted zoning and planning, and adopted new ordinances of several kinds. Today, as Calais enters the new century, the promise of more changes is surely in its future.
There are complete instructions for a self-guided audio tour as well as an architectual cheat sheet / scavenger hunt which shows various details you’ll find on the older houses around town, with descriptions of how they relate to different periods and styles.
