The King's College Tract was a area of forested land in the vicinity of the present towns of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

in the U.S. state of

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. The tract was granted in 1764 by Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Colden of the New York crown colony, in the name of King George III to the board of governors (trustees) of King's College – the predecessor of today's

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and the Canadian University of King's College. The grant was intended for the eventual expansion of the college. The emergence of the

Vermont Republic The Vermont Republic, officially known at the time as the State of Vermont, was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The state was founded in January 1777, when delegates from 28 towns met ...

in 1777 forestalled claim of the grant, and Vermont's General Assembly made a grant of the same land in 1785 to

William Samuel Johnson William Samuel Johnson (October 7, 1727 – November 14, 1819) was an American Founding Father and statesman. He attended all of the four founding American Congresses: the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, the Congress of the Confederation in 1785–1 ...

, an American founding father and jurist who informally represented Vermont before the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

and argued for its eventual admission to the federal union. By coincidence, the association with King's College, now Columbia University, continued, as Johnson became president of then Columbia College in 1787. Though Columbia University never moved to King's College Tract, eventually a college was located there. In 1828, John Chesamore founded the Lamoille Academy, predecessor to Johnson State College, now a campus of Vermont State University.

References and further reading

* Graff, Nancy Price. ''Visible Layers of Time: A Perspective on the History and Architecture of Johnson, Vermont.'' The University of Vermont, Historic Preservation Program: 1990. * Raymond, Kenneth. ''The History of Johnson State College: 1828-1984.'' Johnson State College: 1985. * Swift, Esther Monroe. ''Vermont Place Names: Footprints of History.'' The Stephen Greene Press: 1996 . Pre-statehood history of Vermont Lamoille County, Vermont Cambridge, Vermont Johnson, Vermont Vermont State Colleges Columbia University {{Vermont-geo-stub