town (1990 pop. 16,451), seat of Bennington co., SW Vt.; chartered 1749, settled 1761. It includes the villages of North Bennington and Old Bennington. The town manufactures transportation equipment, paper and plastic products, electronic components, clothing, and pottery. The surrounding area has dairy farms and several ski resorts. A 300-ft (91-m) monument commemorates the 1777 Revolutionary War battle of Bennington (see Saratoga campaign). Also here are the site of the first schoolhouse in Vermont; Catamount Tavern, where the Green Mountain Boys met; the site of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison's printing shop; the Old First Church (1805); the Walloomsac Inn (1763); Bennington College (1925); and the Bennington Museum.