Weston in Windsor County, Vermont — The American Northeast (New England)

The Vermont Country Store

Photographed by Dennis Gilkenson, September 20, 2025

1. The Vermont Country Store Marker

Inscription.
Vrest and Mildred Orton founded The Vermont Country Store in 1945 as a mail-order business, with catalogs printed by Vrest on a 19th-century press. In 1946 the Ortons bought this 1828 building and recreated a late-19th-century general store based on the 1897 store of Vrest’s father, Gardner Lyman Orton, in North Calais, Vermont. In 1952 The Saturday Evening Post featured the business in a story entitled “The Happy Storekeeper of the Green Mountains.” This brought national acclaim with increased mail-order sales and a surge of visitors to Weston. A restaurant was added in 1960, and a second store in Rockingham opened in 1968. Continuously operated by the Orton family, The Vermont Country Store draws visitors from every state.

Erected 2024 by Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Notable Buildings. A significant historical year for this entry is 1946.

Location. 43° 17.443′ N, 72° 47.572′ W. Marker is in Weston, Vermont, in Windsor County. It is at the intersection of Main Street (Vermont Route 100) and Lawrence Hill Road, on the right when traveling north on Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 657 Main Street, Weston VT 05161, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Vermont’s Connecticut River Valley

and in the Green Mountains.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in New England.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Other nearby markers. At least

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8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Weston Korean War – Vietnam War Monument (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Weston Civil War Monument (about 400 feet away); Weston Village Historic District (about 500 feet away); The Birthplace of Burton Snowboards (approx. 4½ miles away); Civilian Conservation Corps West River Forest Camp (approx. 5 miles away); Finnish Immigrants in Vermont (approx. 5 miles away); Village of Mechanicsville (approx. 8.7 miles away); Abby Maria Hemenway (approx. 8.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Weston.

Also see . . .
1. The Vermont Country Store. (Submitted on September 25, 2025, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.)
2. The Vermont Country Store (Wikipedia). (Submitted on September 25, 2025, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.)

The Vermont Country Store image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dennis Gilkenson, September 20, 2025

2. The Vermont Country Store

Credits. This page was last revised on September 25, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 23, 2025, by Dennis Gilkenson of Saxtons River, Vermont. This page has been viewed 151 times since then and 37 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 23, 2025, by Dennis Gilkenson of Saxtons River, Vermont. • Michael Herrick was the editor who published this page.