Cover Carried On The Rutland & Burlington RR & Postmarked With An Agent's Ticket Stamper At Sutherland Falls, Vt. In 1865 -

According to George Slawson's work "The Postal History of Vermont", Railroads came late to Vermont, due to the mountainous terrain, and lack of a large population in the cities.
One of the 1st railroads to set up business in Vermont was the Vermont Central, followed by the Rutland & Burlington RR, both established to bring traffic from Southern New England to Canada. Ticket stampers were used to postmark the mail in the 1870's but some are seen as early as the 1860's. This envelope with it's oval Sutherland Falls R & B RR used in 1865 is among the earlier uses of a ticket stamper postmark. The stamp was issued in 1865 to replace existing stocked which had been voided due to the Civil War.
This is one of the scarce Vermont Railroad postmarks. Today Sutherland Falls is known as Proctor, known for it's marble quarries.