Rogers' Rangers were forced to retreat through the county following their attack on Saint-Francis, Quebec in 1759.

The latter tract nearly corresponded with the old New York county of Gloucester, organized by that province March 16, 1770, with Newbury as the shire town.

[6] There is a supposition that the county was called Caledonia, to commemorate the large number of Scottish settlers.

[8] In 2008, the county was declared a federal disaster area as the result of storms and flooding which occurred on July 18.

The Connecticut River runs along the southeast and forms one of the eastern boundaries of the county.

The northern towns are drained by the head branches of the Passumpsic River, which is the largest in the county.

Stevens River, near its mouth, falls 80 feet (24 m) in a distance of 20 rods (330 ft; 100 m).

[11] There are sulphur springs in Wheelock, Haynesville, in Hardwick; and in St. Johnsbury, near the Moose River.

Specimens of gold were found in town, and iron and copper pyrites in veins.

[11] Ryegate had 300 acres (120 ha) granite on the south and west sides of Blue Mountain.

[11] The presence of Kame terraces in the country are of interest in connection with the drift that gave the Northeast Kingdom its soil, and its surface stones and boulders.

[11] The first extends from the mouth of the Passumpsic River in Barnet, to the northwest corner of the town of Waterford, on the railroad.

The fourth terrace on the west side of the river is part of the next basin, which is in St. Johnsbury and Lyndon.

[11] Every stream from either side of the valley has its large terraces to correspond with those of the Passumpsic River.

[11] The third basin includes the east branch of the Passumpsic River which runs through the Town of Burke.

[11] As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 31,227 people, 12,553 households, and 8,153 families residing in the county.

[18] As in all Vermont counties, there is a small executive function which is mostly consolidated at the state level.

From William Henry Harrison in 1836 to Winfield Scott in 1852, the county would vote the Whig Party candidates.

From John C. Frémont in 1856 to Richard Nixon in 1960 (barring 1912, where the county was won by Progressive Party candidate and former president Theodore Roosevelt), the Republican Party would have a 104-year winning streak in the county.

Following the Democrats' victory in 1964, the county went back to voting for Republican candidates for another 20 year winning streak starting with Richard Nixon in 1968 and ending with George H. W. Bush in 1988.

Cities are formed when villages become large enough to warrant greater governmental organization, and become separate from the surrounding town.