[1] The village of Quechee is located in the central-western portion of Hartford, Vermont, and is set mainly on the northern bank of the Ottauquechee River, where a falls near the village center provided the impetus for industrial development.

A covered bridge spans the river just below the area of the falls, where a dam creates a modest impoundment to the west.

At the northern end of the dam stand the surviving elements of the 19th-century mills, now adapted for other uses.

The village includes two cemeteries, several church buildings (some converted to other uses, and a former library, built in 1909.

[2] The Quechee area was first settled in the 1760s, and the power of the Ottauquechee River for industrial use was immediately realized: in 1765, the town set aside land near the falls, and by the 1770s a sawmill and gristmill had been established.