Vermont Land Records Quick Links: About Vermont Land Records State/Regional BLM Office Locations Vermont State Historical Society County Courthouse Directory Find County Records with Net Detective!

Map of Vermont

Vermont is a state-land state. Land was generally acquired from early town proprietors or from other individuals. Early grants were at times in conflict with each other, originating in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont. When Vermont declared itself independent in 1777, all land came under its jurisdiction. Consequently, there was no other way to obtain an initial grant of land except through the auspices of the legislature. In this process, land was first granted for a town to a group of individuals called proprietors. The proprietors then met, devised a plan for dividing up the land, and drew lots to determine who owned which lots.

The town is the primary legal jurisdiction for land records in Vermont. Consequently, original copies of land records are at the town clerk's office. Each town has separate indexes for the grantees and grantors. Very few women owned land in their own right. They occasionally witnessed deeds but sometimes were asked to release their dower's right. A few land records were recorded by counties and are available at the county courthouse, although they are primarily for those towns that had no formal organization.

With no statewide master index or abstract of land records in the 251 towns, this valuable genealogical information has to be searched for town by town, but it can be done centrally with microfilm copies. Land records for towns whose records were extant in the 1940s had those deed books and indexes microfilmed from inception through 1850. They are available at the Vermont Public Records Division, Route 2, Middlesex, Vermont (mailing address: State Administration Building, 133 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05633-7601), and through the FHL. Only a few towns had lost their land records in fires or floods by that time. The Vermont Public Records Division is always expanding its microfilm holdings of town records beyond those done in the 1940s, and its collection now includes many town records from 1850 to the present. These are not necessarily in the FHL microfilm collection.

Eastern States Office
Bureau of Land Management
7450 Boston Blvd.
Springfield, VA 22153
Tel: (703) 440-1600
FAX: (703) 440-1599

Vermont Historical Society
Pavillion Office Building
109 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
(802) 828-2291
E-mail: vhs@vhs.state.vt.us
or... vt_his_soc@dol.state.vt.us
http://www.state.vt.us/vhs/

Addison County
Addison County Clerk
7 Mahady Court
Middlebury, VT 05753
Telephone: (802) 388-7741

Bennington County
Bennington Country Clerk
207 South St.
Bennington, VT 05201
Telephone: (802) 442-2700

Caledonia County
Caledonia Country Clerk
1126 Main Street, Suite 1
P.O. Box 4129
Saint Johnsbury, VT 05819
Telephone: (802) 748-6600

Chittenden County
Chittenden County Clerk
175 Main Street
Burlington, VT 05402
Telephone: (802) 863-3467

Essex County
Essex County Clerk
75 Courthouse Dr
P.O. Box 75
Guildhall, VT 05905
Telephone: (802) 676-3910

Franklin County
Franklin Country Clerk
Church Street
Box 808
St. Albans, VT 05478
Telephone: (802) 828-3286

Grand Isle County
Grand Isle County Clerk
PO Box 7
North Hero, VT 05474
Telephone: (802) 372-8350

Lamoille County
Lamoille County Clerk
Main Street
P.O. Box 490
Hyde Park, VT 05655
Telephone: (802) 888-2207

Orange County
Orange County Clerk
5 Court Street
Chelsea, VT 05038
Telephone: (802) 685-4610

Orleans County
Orleans Country Clerk
247 Main St.
Newport, VT 05855
Telephone: (802) 334-3344

Rutland County
Rutland Country Clerk
83 Center St.
Rutland, VT 05701
Telephone: (802) 775-4394

Washington County
Washington County Clerk
65 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
Telephone: (802) 223-2091

Windham County
Windham County Clerk
PO Box 207
Route 30
Newfane, VT 05345
Telephone: (802) 365-7979

Windsor County
Windsor County Clerk
12 The Green
PO Box 458
Woodstock, VT 05091
Telephone: (802) 457-2121