Best Web Design in Burlington, VT (2026)

Web Design for Burlington, Vermont

Burlington is Vermont's largest city, a lakeside college town on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain that trades big-city energy for granola-and-craft-beer character. It gave the world Ben & Jerry's and the jam band Phish, elected Bernie Sanders mayor before he was a household name, and became the first U.S. city to run on 100% renewable electricity. Its pedestrian-only Church Street Marketplace and reclaimed waterfront park anchor a downtown that has kept its independent, slightly countercultural spirit.

AppWT works with Burlington, VT businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Burlington

Also known as. The Queen City. BTV (from the airport code, used locally as shorthand).

History. Founded in 1763 through a New Hampshire Grant issued by royal provincial governor Benning Wentworth; roughly 64 families began settling before the Revolutionary War interrupted the effort. Split from South Burlington and chartered as a city on January 18, 1865, by a citizen vote and act of the Vermont Legislature. The 1823 opening of the Champlain Canal linked Lake Champlain to the Hudson River, and by the mid-1800s Burlington was the third-largest lumber port in the nation. As lumber declined, the economy diversified with firms such as Wells, Richardson and Company (drug manufacturers and wholesalers), founded 1872. First mayor Albert L. Catlin coined the 'Queen City' idea in his 1866 commencement address, predicting Burlington would become 'the Queen City of New England.'

Local economy. Anchored by education and health services; the University of Vermont Medical Center (over 8,200 employees) and the University of Vermont (about 4,125) are the largest employers in the city and the state. Birthplace of Ben & Jerry's, which Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened in a converted Burlington gas station in 1978 (company founded 1977). Trade, transportation, utilities, and some manufacturing round out the base, alongside a strong small-business and farm-to-table retail scene.

Culture and community. Church Street Marketplace, an award-winning open-air pedestrian mall established in 1981, hosts street performers, festivals, and more than 100 shops and restaurants. Maple creemees, Vermont's higher-butterfat soft-serve, are a regional signature; Vermont is the country's largest maple syrup producer. The Burlington Discover Jazz Festival takes over the city each June, and the Festival of Fools brings international street-theater and circus acts each summer. The jam band Phish formed in the Burlington area in the 1980s; members still live in Vermont, and Ben & Jerry's named a flavor 'Phish Food' after them.

What makes Burlington distinct. Bernie Sanders served as mayor from 1981 to 1989, winning his first race against a five-term incumbent by just 10 votes. As mayor, Sanders helped launch the Burlington Community Land Trust, the first municipality-supported housing trust in the country. Lake Champlain has its own legendary monster, 'Champ,' rooted in Indigenous accounts of a giant serpent and now a beloved local mascot.

Burlington Landmarks and Local Life

• Church Street Marketplace
• ECHO - Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, a lakefront science and nature museum featuring a large Champ exhibit and a 30-foot Champ sculpture unveiled in 2024
• Waterfront Park - a 45-acre park created on formerly industrial Lake Champlain shoreline
• Lake Champlain
• University of Vermont