Snake Mountain (Vermont)

Snake Mountain is located on the border of Addison, Vermont and Weybridge, Vermont. It is 1,281 feet above Lake Champlain.

History

Climbing up the Addison side of the mountain, you will find an old carriage road. This road was the main road to the top of the mountain where the Grand View Hotel once stood. The Grand View Hotel was built in 1870, and when it was built, Snake Mountain's name changed to Grand View Mountain. The hotel had a tall tower connected to it. For 10 cents, you could climb the tower and look at the gorgeous view of parts of Addison County, Vermont, Lake Champlain, and New York. The view was absolutely amazing. One man counted 51 church steeples from this tower. The hotel closed in 1925 as lake resorts drew business into the Champlain Valley and automobiles, which could not make it up the steep, muddy carriage road, came into general use. Years later, the hotel burned to the ground and now there is nothing left of the hotel. At the very top of the mountain you will also find a cement foundation for a homestead that was never built. The man who envisioned awakening daily to gaze down at this quilt of corn-and-hayfields sprinkled with Holstein cows was drafted and killed in the Second World War. There was also once a sheep farm at the top of the mountain.

References

"The History of Addison County";Author Unknown;Bixby Memorial Library, Vergennes, Vermont