GLASTENBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – In a state known for small towns, Glastenbury stands apart. With just five residents — by our count — it’s Vermont’s least-populated municipality. In this week’s “Vermont’s Own,” Cat Viglienzoni visits the Bennington County community that time forgot.

Glastenbury wasn’t always a ghost town. In the 1800s, it boomed with logging, charcoal mining, and served as a vacation destination. But a flood wiped out one village, oil replaced charcoal as fuel, and nature reclaimed the terrain. In 1937, the Legislature officially unincorporated the town.

Today, Glastenbury serves as a refuge for residents and second-home owners seeking peace and quiet.

Rickey Harrington grew up in neighboring Shaftsbury, but land in Glastenbury caught his eye when he and his wife were looking for more space to call their own.

“I said, would you sell me 25 acres? He goes ‘Yeah, maybe.’ Oh, that went on for three years; I never thought I’d get it,” Harrington recalled. He did get the land and built a home with everything they wanted — solitude and no chances of crowding. “I got that neighbor. I’ve got a neighbor about a quarter of a mile up the road, and that’s it.”

Harrington represents a fifth of this tiny town’s population and serves as its state-appointed supervisor, the first who actually lives in the town. He’s held the role for 22 years.

“I like what I do,” Harrington said, though he notes some of Montpelier’s bureaucracy seems unnecessary for a town with just a handful of permanent residents. “Gotta send the state and let them know how many people got married. How many people do you think got married in a town of five people?”

With just 1.3 miles of road and a few homes, most of the town’s 44 square miles are forested. Winding through those trees is a 20-mile stretch of uninterrupted hiking on the Long Trail that can be accessed from Route 9 in Woodford.

“The Glastenbury area is one of the most remote,” said Mike DeBonis with the Green Mountain Club. He says the terrain is what people envisioned when they first came up with the idea for the 272-mile trek. “It’s the feeling of wilderness, and it’s the feeling of being out there in nature and being surrounded by trees and forest. And you really get that in Glastenbury.”

Among the highlights is Glastenbury Mountain, a peak of about 3,750 feet. A fire tower there is currently closed and on the list for repairs from the federal government. What’s left of the town’s industrial past remains scattered through the forest. “There are still remnants of those things in the forest if you can look,” DeBonis said.

Harrington notes it’s remarkable that just a four-hour drive from New York City, you can be in Vermont’s second-largest wilderness in a town of five people. “I mean, that’s kind of unique, you know? You can go from craziness to nothing,” he said. “It is wilderness, it is literally wilderness.”

With just five people, why not join up with Shaftsbury and save the paperwork? “They want to have the independence,” Harrington said. “They’d rather say this is Glastenbury. We want to go the way we want to go. Truth be known, there’s probably not much difference between us going it alone or as if we went with them.”

“There’s an identity you would lose,” he added. “It’s the identity, yeah. That’s exactly what you lose.”

Over the years, that wilderness — and some disappearances and alleged strange sights — have led to Glastenbury being dubbed part of the so-called “Bennington Triangle.” Harrington said he doesn’t buy into that, though he thinks a resident dressed in a gorilla suit did cross Route 7, sparking Bigfoot rumors.

Harrington isn’t only the town supervisor, he’s also in charge of managing affairs in the neighboring town of Somerset, which is also often in the running for least-populated town.

Somerset is the second of our southern Vermont ghost towns, and it’s got quite a bit of character and natural beauty. See why on next Wednesday’s installment of “Vermont’s Own.”

If you have an idea for your town, don’t be shy, send us a note about the places, people, and events that embody the place you call home.

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