Before 1949 Orleans, Essex, and Caledonia Counties were simply known to the rest of the state for the beauty and the independent spirits who called it home. However, during one of his many trips to the region, then governor, and later U.S. senator, George D. Aiken, helped breathe life into the tri-county region by speaking the phrase, “the Northeast Kingdom,” to describe this section of the state.
While it may be disputed whether or not Gov. Aiken was the first person to utter the romantic sounding name to describe a beautiful, yet rugged section of the state, there is no doubt that the utterance of the phrase by such a popular governor helped bring life to the new title. He’d helped give this rural region of the state, Vermont’s last frontier, an identity that now helps attract thousands of visitors from around the world each year.

This is the 60th anniversary of the naming of the Northeast Kingdom. In honor of this milestone, the delegation of Northeast Kingdom legislators plan to honor Senator Aiken’s widow, Lola Aiken of Montpelier, and other members of the Aiken family in a gathering in the Cedar Creek Room in the State House on Tuesday, March 24, at 1 p.m. The public is invited to attend this event.
Anyone with questions about the event can contact Scott Wheeler of Derby, at (802) 334-5920 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it