1789
Samuel Slater brings textile machinery to New England
1814
Francis C. Lowell establishes large-scale textile factory in Waltham, MA
1820s
Copper mining begins in Strafford, Corinth, Ely, VT
1823
Champlain Canal opens from the lake to the Hudson River, increases commerce and changes direction of VT trade from Canada to NY
1824
Rifles with fully interchangeable parts manufactured at Harpers Ferry armory.
1825
Erie Canal opens
Textile mills set up at Lowell, MA
1830s
Marble and slate quarries operating in Rutland County, VT
1834
Fairbanks Scales starts up in St. Johnsbury, VT
1835
Ironworks begin at Tyson’s Furnace in Plymouth, VT
1837
John Deere introduces the first steel plow
Samuel Morse develops the telegraph
1840
80 textile factories in VT, ¾ employ 10-100 people
1846
1,200 VT girls are employed in the Lowell mills
“Bolton War” on VT Central RR, VT’s first labor strike, by Irish workers due pay
1850
11,000 VTers are living in CA, many searching for gold
1850s
Railroads emerge as nation’s first big businesses
Estey Organ company starts up in Brattleboro, VT, becomes largest in US
1851
Isaac Singer invents mechanical sewing machine
Robbins and Lawrence factory in Windsor, VT, creates interchangeable parts for guns
1854
Henry Bessemer invents the steel converter
1855
Brattleboro washerwomen strike for higher pay
1859
Petroleum discovered in PA
1860
42% of native-born VTers live out of state
1866
Female textile workers in Woodstock, VT, strike for 10-hour day
1867
Alfred Nobel produces dynamite
Refrigerated rail car invented
1869
First transcontinental railroad completed.
1870s
Burlington, VT, a leading US lumber port
1870
John D. Rockefeller forms Standard Oil trust
1875
Granite industry in Barre, VT, begins to boom with RR spur
1876
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
1879
Thomas Edison invents the incandescent light
1883
“Ely War” outrage by copper workers denied pay prompts National Guard intervention
1886
American Federation of Labor is established
Interstate Commerce Act regulates railroad rates, first federal regulatory action
Barre workers organize local of Granite Cutters union, becomes largest in US
United Labor party sweeps elections in Rutland
1892
Barre granite workers strike for 5 months