 From the arrival of the first railroads in the late 1840s until rail diminished in importance in the 1960s due to the Interstate Highway System, White River Junction was the most important railroad community in Vermont.Its original importance was due to its location at the confluence of the White River with the Connecticut River.In 1803 Elias Lyman built a bridge across the Connecticut from the north bank of the White River to West Lebanon, New Hampshire.