Grand Isle County

Grand Isle County, Vermont
Grand Isle County Courthouse in North Hero
Location in the U.S. state of Vermont
Vermont's location in the U.S.
Founded	1805
Shire Town	North Hero
Largest town	Grand Isle
Area
• Total	195 sq mi (505 km2)
• Land	82 sq mi (212 km2)
• Water	113 sq mi (293 km2), 58%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	6,861
• Density	35.8/sq mi (14/km²)
Congressional district	At-large
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4

Grand Isle County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,970, making it the second-least populous county in Vermont. Its shire town (county seat) is the municipality of North Hero. The county was created in 1802 and organized in 1805.

Grand Isle County is part of the Burlington metropolitan area. The county does not have a high school; students choose from a number of high schools in neighboring counties.

Grand Isle County is one of several Vermont counties created from land ceded by the state of New York on January 15, 1777 when Vermont declared itself to be a distinct state from New York. The land originally was contested by Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New France and New Netherland, but it remained undelineated until July 20, 1764 when King George III established the boundary between New Hampshire and New York along the west bank of the Connecticut River, north of Massachusetts and south of the parallel of 45 degrees north latitude. New York assigned the land gained to Albany County. On March 12, 1772 Albany County was partitioned to create Charlotte County, and this situation remained until Vermont's independence from New York and Britain, which, however, did not end the contest.

On September 3, 1783, as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the Revolutionary War ended with Great Britain recognizing the independence of the United States. Vermont's border with Quebec was established at 45 degrees north latitude, which explains why this county has no dry-land connection to the rest of the United States.