The Vermont History Museum occupies the Pavilion, an extravagant 1971 reconstruction of an 1876 Victorian hotel directly opposite the State House. Inside, the exhibits trace the state from the Abenaki through the Revolutionary War, the granite quarries, the long arguments over secession, and the rural twentieth century.
The museum is small and well-curated — a couple of hours rather than a full day. The reconstructed 1840s courthouse and the displays on the Vermont republic (a brief 14-year window before the state joined the Union) are the highlights.