Stowe’s first settlers arrived in 1794, when intrepid Oliver Luce and family drove up from Massachusetts in an oxcart as far as present-day Waterbury. Beyond that, in the trackless wilderness, there was no road for oxen, so Luce hauled family and belongings himself the last long miles in a smaller hand-drawn sled. Luce’s wooden sled can be seen today at the Stowe Historic Society museum in the Town Hall on Main Street.

By the early 1800s, Stowe was already a bustling summer resort town, drawing tourists from far and wide with its spectacular scenery and sparkling mountain air. William Bingham built what we now call the Toll Road up Mt. Mansfield in 1851, and by 1856, a magnificent hotel, the Halfway House, was flourishing on the summit ridge of Vermont’s highest peak. That construction was funded, in part, by a $2000 grant from Vermont Central Railway, which knew the value of a great resort town when it saw one.

Skiing took awhile to catch up with summer vacationing at Stowe, but guests were sliding down the snowy slopes of Mt. Mansfield before the Civil War. The real dawn of Stowe skiing, as we know it, began in 1914 when Charles Blood and Nate Goodrich skied down the Toll Road. That same year, the Vermont Forest Service bought 3,155 acres as the first block of the Mt. Mansfield State Forest. Another 1,845 acres, including 2/3 of the present day ski area, was bought in 1915. By 1920, the Mt. Mansfield Hotel Company took ownership of the Toll Road, and put in phone lines to the summit of Mt. Mansfield.

During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps cut a number of new trails on Mt. Mansfield, all under the guidance and vision of legendary forester Perry Merrill. These were destined to become ski trails, but also enabled hikers and climbers to access Mt. Mansfield’s slopes and cliffs in summer and fall. In 1937, the first lift—a rope tow powered by a Cadillac engine--was built up the mountain, running 1000 feet up the Toll House Slope. An all day lift ticket cost the whopping sum of fifty cents.

Today, Stowe’s year round population is about 4,300. Thanks to its combination of matchless mountain and unique town, Stowe, Vermont is the only mountain resort in the Eastern U.S. that compares favorably with classic international destinations, making it a preferred destination of discerning American, European and British travelers. Visitors find the full range of summer mountain resort activities at Stowe, including exciting festivals, great golfing, mountain hiking and biking, horseback adventures, angling, shopping, soaring, climbing, and much more.

Despite its enduring fame as "Ski Capital of the East," even more people visit Stowe in summer and fall, drawn by the long sunny days, sparkling sreams, lofty mountains and wildflower-strewn meadows, and the welcoming warmth of Stowe’s residents.