Middlebury, Vermont

This small town is home to Middlebury College. This liberal arts college was founded in 1800, has 2,300 undergraduates, and offers 44 majors of study. The Bread Loaf Writers Conference, referred to by The New Yorker Magazine as "the oldest and most prestigious writers' conference in the country" was founded in 1926 and hosted yearly by Middlebury College. Otter Creek, the longest river in Vermont, flows through Middlebury, another charming feature of this small town. Middlebury’s first town hall, built in 1884, now serves as the Town Hall Theatre, the town’s center for the arts. Annual events include the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert and Fireworks, the Festival on the Green, and the After Dark Music Series. The name Middlebury came from its location in the middle of Salisbury and New Haven.