The highest mountain point in the area is Governor’s Mountain which stands 1823 feet, and the lowest point is Broad Brook Mountain, which is 250 feet tall, in Vernon ( a nearby town). 

Guilford has several events that bring the town together.  On fourth of July we have a parade and picnic.  Members from the elementary school band play in the parade and families make floats.  During the winter we have a ski and skate sale that many families volunteer at to make it a success.  Families donate skating and skiing equipment their children have grown out of or they don't have a need for anymore.  Every year we have town meeting.  This is a place for people to express their concerns about the town.  It is also a time when many people get to see each other.  Every fall the church has a pie sale.  Often they sell pies such as apple, pumpkin or pecan.  Many members of the community look forward to buying a pie every year. During Labor Day Guilford is known for its small country fair.  The fair consists of local venders selling jewelry or candles, rides for small children and several venders selling food.  Members from the town enter baked goods, produce they have grown and quilts they have sewn to be judged.  There is also a horse show, dog show and tractor pull that excites many of the attendees. 

Maple sugaring is something many families, including my own, do in the spring.  Maple sugaring is a process that originated from the Native Americans.  It begins by gathering sap from maple trees and boiling it to produce maple syrup.  For sap to run the weather must be warm in the day and cold at night.  The weather only stays this way for a short period of the year, making maple sugaring very special for families.

During sugaring season there are always several sugar on snow suppers.  At these suppers many members of the community gather to feast on ham, hard boiled eggs and rolls. For dessert everyone eats donuts, pickles and sugar on snow.  Sugar on snow is maple syrup that has hardened on top of a bowl of snow.  This is a delicacy. 

Guilford has one elementary school with grades kindergarten to eighth grade.  The school has about two hundred students.  After students graduate from eighth grade many attend the public high school in Brattleboro.

Guilford has many open fields, and several brooks, rivers and ponds. Eighty percent of Vermont if covered in forest.  These bodies of water allows families to swim in the summer and go ice skating and ice fishing in the winter.  Our expansive open areas allow many families to go snowmobiling, sledding and skiing in the winter and hike, bike or walk in the summer.

Due to the large expanse of forested land many animals also live in Guilford. Deer, moose, bear, wild turkeys and coyotes are often spotted on a day to day basis.  Farm animals such as cows, horses, sheep and pigs are also very frequent because of the number of local farmers.

Farmers and local artisans are an important part the Guilford Community.  Their are several large farms in Guilford, but there are also many small farms.  There are many local painters, jewelry makers and sewers as well.

There are many old historical buildings in Guilford and very few commercial buildings.  When visiting Guilford you will see old farm houses that are very simple with wooden clapboards and slate roofs.  There are also several old barns with milk houses and silos.  Many old churches still stand, there are fourteen one room school houses and there are sixteen cemeteries dating back to the 1700's. There is also an old covered bridge and crib dam in Green River Village.

History of Guilford:

In 1754 Guilford was chartered by Benning Wentworth, the Governor of New Hampshire.  After a second charter in 1764, the landowners of Guildford made many attractive proposals to potential settlers of Guilford, making the town have a rapid growth in the earlier days.  Fifty-four people were given equal shares of land, and told to clear and plant five acres of trees in five years for every fifty acres of land they owned.  The only trees they weren't to clear were pine, which were to be preserved for Her Majesty's Navy's ship's masts.  Only after the French and Indian War, when people thought it safer, did vast numbers of settlers begin to arrive.  In 1764 the charter was renewed for Guilford since there were not enough settlers to satisfy the requirements of the 1754 charter.  On July 4th,1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed.  On January 15th Vermont was declared an independent state.  In 1791 Vermont was accepted into the union as the fourteenth state.

In 1790 over two-thousand people lived in Guilford, most of them were farmers.  Soon the population dropped for several reasons.  Many moved to Brattleboro (a nearby town) for the railroad station and the Connecticut River. These were two convenient forms of transportation.  People also moved because of Western Expansion, the introduction of cotton over wool and the rise of factories, which offered shorter hours and better pay.

During the 1800's the population in Guilford slowly began to increase as many Irish and Welsh immigrants moved to Guilford to mine for slate. 

Landmarks in Guilford:

Grange

Cemeteries

School

Town Clerk's office

Center of Guilford

Country store

Guilford Church

Green River Village

Library

Historical society

One room school house

Town meeting hall