Poultney is a town in Rutland County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Vermont.

[3] One of the New Hampshire Grants, Poultney was charted on September 21, 1761, by Benning Wentworth, Royal Governor of New Hampshire, and named for William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, a British politician and orator.

Ashley and Allen established themselves in a cabin near the Poultney River on February 15, 1771.

Six of Ashley’s brothers followed him to Poultney during the next two years, and several members of the Richards family were also early settlers.

[5] The town grew slowly at first because of the unresolved conflict between New York and New Hampshire over land ownership in Vermont.

The women and children of Poultney fled the town on July 8, 1777, in the face of Gen. John Burgoyne’s army which was advancing from the north.

[7] Ebenezer Allen left Poultney in March 1783 for South Hero where he once again was the first settler in wilderness.

Among these are the Eagle Tavern dating to 1780, the Federal style Baptist church built in 1805 by master builder Elisha Scott, and the 1823 Horace Greeley House.

Greeley served an apprenticeship at the Northern Spectator newspaper owned by Amos Bliss from 1826 to 1830.

The choir at Green Mountain College was said to have the only fully Welsh repertoire in the United States.

Among historical buildings located there are the Union Academy dating to 1791, the Melodeon Factory built in 1840, and the 1896 Victorian school house.

[12] Poultney shares Lake St. Catherine (about 800 acres (320 ha)) with the town of Wells.