A smattering of Vermont and New Hampshire towns on either side of the Connecticut River are known collectively as the “Upper Valley.” We set out to learn more about the origin of that phrase, and what makes the Upper Valley a geographic and cultural outlier.

Our mission comes from question-asker David Watts, of Norwich:

“What is the Upper Valley? And how did it get its name?”

Find the web version of this episode here.

This episode was reported and produced by Josh Crane. Editing and additional production from Burgess Brown and Sabine Poux. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Theme music is by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Special thanks to Bob Green, Sophie Stephens, Mark Davis, Bill Kane, Pat Boerum, John Lowe, Richard Hastings and Kat Blanchard.

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Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

P.S. A previous version of this story indicated that the Claremont Eagle Times shut down in 2009 and reopened under new ownership in 2022. The Eagle Times did shut down in 2009, but reopened under new ownership later that same year. It was sold again in 2022. We’ve updated the audio to reflect this, and also fixed our pronunciation of the town of “Topsham.”