• Courtesy
• Burton factory, 1977, Londonderry

Most people associate Burton Snowboards with northern Vermont. The company has been headquartered in Burlington for decades and has strong connections to Stowe.

But a new historic marker is putting Burton's Londonderry roots on the map. Jake Burton Carpenter started the company in the small southern Vermont town in 1977, producing some of his first snowboards there before Burton grew to the nearly billion-dollar behemoth it is today.

Carpenter, who died of cancer in 2019, is considered the godfather of snowboarding, now one of the most popular winter sports. His wife, former company CEO Donna Carpenter, still owns Burton and has kept it in Vermont.

"This was a significant historical event that happened in our town, and many people just had no idea," said Bob Wells, a board member for the Londonderry Arts and Historical Society.

A group of locals initially wanted to build a snowboarding sculpture in Londonderry and even pitched the idea to Jake Carpenter in 2016. But with a price tag in the millions, the concept quickly wiped out.

Wells settled on a historic marker, and, seven years later, it's becoming a reality. A dedication ceremony for the plaque, declaring Londonderry "the birthplace of Burton Snowboards," is scheduled for Tuesday, October 3, down Main Street from the original shop. Donna Carpenter and other family members will be on hand, as well as Olympic snowboarding gold medalists Kelly Clark and Ross Powers, a Londonderry native.

In an interview this week, Donna Carpenter recalled meeting her future husband at a Londonderry bar in the early 1980s. She was living in New York City at the time.

"I thought, Who is this guy? Maybe a fling for the weekend," she said with a laugh.

Jake was working 14-hour days trying to get the company off the ground.

"He was so passionate," Carpenter said. "He believed. He saw a sport."

After the 11 a.m. marker dedication, the historical society will host a reception at an exhibit called "First Tracks" that highlights the company's time in Londonderry.

"I've always sort of compared Burton to the ethos of Vermont, in that you've got to be very individualistic and rugged and gritty," Carpenter said. "But you also totally understand the value of community, because you can't get through a Vermont winter without community."