{"id":84094,"date":"2018-04-15T00:18:55","date_gmt":"2018-04-15T04:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wend.ca\/?p=84094"},"modified":"2020-03-18T10:09:37","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T14:09:37","slug":"the-u-s-s-smallest-capital-montpelier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=84094","title":{"rendered":"The U.S.’s Smallest Capital: Montpelier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Montpelier is by far one of the smallest and least populous capital cities in the United States. Its official population is 7,855. During the day an additional 3,000-ish people filter into town just to work. <\/p>\n

I have to keep reminding myself that it was the French who settled Vermont. There are currently 9,543 French-speaking people in the state with 3-French speaking communities along the border. <\/p>\n

Why do I bring this up? Because many of the original French place names still exist. Montpelier is an example of this… it was settled in the 1780s and named after Montpellier in France. We really struggled with how exactly to say this city’s name and every time I heard a local say it, I was confused.<\/p>\n

How the name is pronounced varies (even with locals): during this trip we heard mount-peeler<\/em>, mon-pee-lee-er<\/em>, mont-peal-yer<\/em>, mont-pill-yer<\/em>, and we personally couldn’t shake our own French pronunciation: mon-pell-e-ay<\/em>. We even heard a reference to Montpeculiar, which validated our choice to visit Vermont for our “find bizarre things in small town America”<\/em> themed road trip. Locals pronounce it: mont-pill-yer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Montpelier is a city with an unexpected amount of eye candy and character.<\/p>\n