In the 1870s Manchester was linked to the outside world by rail, and trains began running daily from New York City. Shortly after the turn of the century Robert Todd Lincoln, a respected lawyer and statesman and the only son of Abraham Lincoln to live past the age of 18, returned to Manchester in a big way. He built a stately summer mansion called Hildene down the street from the Equinox. Hildene, known for its picturesque gardens, is open for public tours from May through October. It overlooks the broad Battenkill River valley which is framed by the Taconic Mountains to the west and the Green Mountains to the east.
The highest peak in the area is 3,800-foot Equinox Mountain, accessible via the Skyline Drive toll road. Golf has long been one of the village's attractions, and the Equinox has its own 18-hole course, opened in 1926, as well as its own trout pond built by Franklin Orvis, who owned the resort through the last half of the 19th century.
The Orvis family had a profound influence on the village, and its name became synonymous with the art of fly fishing. The Orvis Company was founded in Manchester by Charles Orvis in 1856 and is the oldest mail order business in the world. In 1966 the company opened America's first fly fishing school and turned the Battenkill River into a classroom. The American Museum of Fly Fishing is on historic Route 7A.
The Equinox set a high standard for economic development in Manchester and its success spawned a host of other businesses, from elegant inns, and gourmet restaurants, to designer outlet stores, which bill themselves as "Fifth Avenue in the Mountains."
Two ski areas, Bromley and Stratton, are within a half hour of Manchester, and they offer four season attractions, including golf and an alpine slide. The Long Trail, which runs north and south through Vermont, offers excellent hiking close to Mancheser Village. While fishing and canoeing on the Battenkill are obvious choices for outdoor activities, Manchester is also well known for its antique shops, art galleries, outlet shopping, and summer music festivals.
1864 Abraham Lincoln's wife Mary and her sons vacationed at Manchester's preeminent hotel, the Equinox. She made reservations for the president to join them the next summer, but he was assassinated in April 1865. Since then four U.S. presidents have stayed at the Equinox, which dominates the colonial village with its aristocratic splendor.
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