The Town of Colchester:

One of the region's fastest-growing towns and now Vermont's fourth-largest community, Colchester reflects two separate geographic identities: The uplands north and east of Lake Champlain include a college, a hospital, two television stations and a mushrooming business section. Malletts Bay, with 27 miles of shoreline, is home to summer recreation in the form of busy marinas, beaches, seasonal homes and campgrounds. Bordered by Lake Champlain and the Winooski River, Colchester's shore is a plethora of points and peninsulas. A Vermont founding father, Gen. Ira Allen, once owned the 23,300 acres of farmland that now comprises the town but lost most of it by 1800 in a blundered arms deal with the British.