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I suppose this question is sort of in line with a recent question about the pronunciation of a NH town’s name.
Are people (especially natives or long-time residents) aware of any widespread use of the term “Twin States” to describe New Hampshire and Vermont? Is this a term often used in Vermont, but not much here?
I’ve lived here for close to 15 years now, and otherwise always lived in Maine or Mass., and had never heard anyone use this term until recently, when I started seeing it being used in “Valley News” articles posted on the websites of other newspapers owned by the same parent company (such as the Concord Monitor.) Valley News is an Upper Valley publication and I do not live in or particularly near the Upper Valley, and haven’t spent much time there.
Is this a term pretty limited to the Upper Valley? I know there is a close relationship between the Hanover area, and the Norwich, VT area, with lots of people crossing the border daily for one reason or another.
Edit to add - I’m in the Monadnock Region, so not terribly far from VT (I feel a closer relationship to VT now than when I lived in the central part of the state, our free weekly newspaper is distributed in Brattleboro and has Brattleboro-related articles, etc.) and I still never hear this term.
Last edited by cowbell76; 11-16-2020 at 06:38 PM..
I've heard VT called "Topsy-turvy NH" or more recently "The Upside-Down", but never heard "twin states"
I've been doing sporadic work up near Killington for about a year; I hear plenty of people remarking on the inverted resemblance, but never heard 'twin states" used in either state.
The more time I spend up there, the more I notice how weird Vermont is compared to back home in New Hampshire.
Other than shape and climate, the two states really don't have all that much in common.
Thanks for the responses everyone... so I’m not crazy... (or at least I didn’t miss some major thing.). In doing a quick online search I did find several businesses with “Twin State” in the name, and they all were around the Upper Valley.
I can see the two states being “twins,” as they have a pretty similar size and shape, with reversed orientation, but I’ve never felt that there was a very close relationship between them. Maybe that’s due to how the influx of out-of-staters over the last 50 years or so has changed much of VT. Maybe they used to be closer. It seems to me that the Upper Valley is really the only area where there is a lot of cross-border daily travel where it feels at least to some extent like all the same region. I wonder if other people have noted other areas like that. I know Brattleboro area people shop in Keene (in part due to Brattleboro’s efforts to keep out big box stores) but at least two me it doesn’t feel like there is a very close relationship between the two areas. But maybe it’s because despite living in the area my life is oriented more towards central NH than VT. And the two cities are about 20 miles apart.
Thanks for the responses everyone... so I’m not crazy... (or at least I didn’t miss some major thing.). In doing a quick online search I did find several businesses with “Twin State” in the name, and they all were around the Upper Valley.
I can see the two states being “twins,” as they have a pretty similar size and shape, with reversed orientation, but I’ve never felt that there was a very close relationship between them.
I know some fraternal twins who resemble that remark.
I've lived in New England since 1978, I have never heard of VT & NH referred to as the twin states.
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I've heard VT called "Topsy-turvy NH" or more recently "The Upside-Down", but never heard "twin states"
