VERMONT

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Rudyard Kipling carved a place for himself as poet of the British Empire and herald of the British soldier, whom he glorified in many of his works. Kipling was born in 1865 in Bombay, India. As a child, he was educated in England, but he returned in his teens to India. Returning to England in 1889, Kipling won instant success with Barrack-Room Ballads. In 1892 he and his wife moved to America and sought peace and privacy near Mrs. Kipling's family in Vermont. Kipling had a new house constructed in the popular Shingle style and named it Naulakha, which means "precious jewel." At Naulakha Kipling wrote "The Jungle Book" and "Captains Courageous."

Naulakha (Kipling House)
Kipling Road
Dummerston, VT

Mowgli, the jungle boy, Shere Khan, the ruthless tiger, and Bagheera, the fearsome panther — all inhabitants of "The Jungle Books" by Rudyard Kipling — were brought to life in the mountains of Vermont, where Kipling lived and wrote at his home, Naulakha, from 1892 to 1896. Naulakha has been restored by the Landmark Trust, a British foundation devoted that preserves historic homes. Many of the original Kipling furnishings remained after the house was sold by the Kipling family in 1903. The Kiplings left desk at which Kipling wrote The Jungle Book series and a teakwood sideboard from India. It is not open to the public but is visible from public roads.

Marlboro College Rice-Aron Library
64 Dalrymple Road
Marlboro, Vermont

802-258-9221
Rice-Aron Library at Marlboro College houses an intriguing Rudyard Kipling collection focusing on the writer's stay in Vermont.

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Robert Frost, whose writings are often considered to capture the heart and soul of New England, was born in 1874 in San Francisco. When he was 11 his family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1900, Frost's grandfather bought a farm in Derry, New Hampshire, for Robert's use. For Frost, the farm was an ideal setting to raise his family and write poetry in private. The Frost family moved to England in 1912. There, Frost was influenced by several British poets. By the time Frost returned to the United States in 1915, he had published two collections and his reputation was established. By the 1920s, he was the most celebrated poet in America, eventually winning four Pulitzer Prizes.

Robert Frost Stone House Museum
121 Route 7A
Shaftsbury, Vermont
802-447-6200

Frost's Stone House Museum features galleries in the house where Robert Frost lived and wrote some of his best poetry. One of his most beloved poems, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" was composed in 1922 at the dining room table. The grounds of the property are complete with many images that evoke Frost's poetry including stone walls, birch trees, fields and woods.
Hours: Open May 1 to December 29, Tuesday through Sunday,10 a.m. to 5 p.m. December hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., weather permitting.
Cost: Fee charged

Robert Frost Memorial Drive
East Middlebury, VT

A 14-mile route through woods, farmlands, and mountains starting at the junction of U.S. Route 7 and Vermont Route 125 in East Middlebury, Vermont. Two miles east of Ripton is the Robert Frost Wayside Area, where the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail begins.

Robert Frost Interpretive Trail
Route 125
Middlebury, VT

This three-quarter-mile trail in the Green Mountain National Forest is about one mile west of the Bread Loaf campus of Middlebury College. It winds through woodland, and plaques along the trail contain quotations from Frost poems. Picnic space is available near the trailhead.

Old Bennington Cemetery
Route 9
Bennington, VT

Robert Frost purchased a plot in the cemetery of the Old Bennington Congregational Church after the deaths of his wife Elinor and his son Carol. Robert Frost died on January 28, 1963 in Boston. On June 16, 1963, Frost's ashes were buried in the plot at the Old Bennington Cemetery. The epitaph that he chose was, "I had a lover's quarrel with the world."