- Middlebury, Vermont
-
Middlebury, Vermont — Town — Main Street
SealMiddlebury, Vermont
Location of Vermont within the U.S.A.
Coordinates: 44°0′7″N 73°8′44″W / 44.00194°N 73.14556°WCoordinates: 44°0′7″N 73°8′44″W / 44.00194°N 73.14556°W Country United States State Vermont County Addison Chartered 1761 Area - Total 39.2 sq mi (101.4 km2) - Land 39.0 sq mi (101.1 km2) - Water 0.1 sq mi (0.4 km2) Elevation 427 ft (130 m) Population (2010) - Total 8,496 - Density 217.8/sq mi (84.0/km2) Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4) ZIP code 05753 Area code(s) 802 FIPS code 50-44350[1] GNIS feature ID 1462146[2] Website middlebury.govoffice.com Middlebury is a town in and the shire town[3] (county seat)[4] of Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 8,496 at the 2010 census. Middlebury is home to both Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History.
Contents
History
Main Street in 1908
One of the New Hampshire grants, Middlebury was chartered by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth on November 2, 1761. The name Middlebury came from its location in the middle of Salisbury and New Haven. It was awarded to John Evarts and 62 others. The French and Indian Wars ended in 1763, and the first settlers arrived in 1766. John Chipman cleared his lot seven, it was the first clearing.[5] During the Revolutionary War, much of the town was burned in Carleton's Raid on November 6, 1778. After the war concluded in 1783, settlers returned to rebuild homes, clear forests and establish farms. Principal crops were grains and hay.
Landowners vied for the lucrative honor of having the village center grow on their properties. A survey dispute with Salisbury led to the forfeiture of Gamaliel Painter's farm to that town, and his transition from farming to developing Middlebury Village near his and Abisha Washburn's mill, together with other mills that surrounded the Otter Creek falls. Industries would include a cotton factory, sawmill, gristmill, pail factory, paper mill, woolen factory, iron foundry, and marble quarry. The Rutland & Burlington Railroad first arrived on September 1, 1849. Around 1830, Middlebury was the second largest town in Vermont state.
Middlebury College, one of the United State's elite liberal arts colleges, was founded here in 1800. It is a member of the NESCAC. In the summer, the town plays host to the annual Middlebury College language schools, as well as the college's Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the oldest surviving conference of its kind in the nation.
On October 22, 2007, central Middlebury was evacuated for a short time because of a train derailment; the Middlebury Union Middle School served as the evacuation headquarters.
The television comedy 30 Rock used downtown Middlebury's picturesque Main Street as a visual stand-in for a fictional Pennsylvania town in Episode 210.
Today, as the largest town by population in Addison County, Middlebury serves as the commercial and business center for the region. Downtown hosts a three-screen movie theater, the post office, and two historic inns, as well as many shops and restaurants. There is considerable development along U.S. Route 7 heading south of town, including Shaws and Hannaford supermarkets, two drugstores, most of the town's gas stations, and several fast-food spots. Of note is Middlebury's A&W; Vermont's only remaining car-hop restaurant and a popular spot with both locals and Middlebury College students.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.2 square miles (101.4 km2), of which, 39.0 square miles (101.1 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.4 km2) of it (0.36%) is water. Middlebury is drained by Otter Creek, which runs from south to north along the western edge of the town, with the falls at the center of the Middlebury village. The Middlebury River flows west to Otter Creek out of the mountains. Chipman Hill, a hill of glacial till, rises 450 feet (140 m) above the village just to the northeast. Foothills of the Green Mountains border the town to the east, with the Champlain Valley to the west.
Middlebury is crossed by
U.S. Route 7, 
Vermont Route 23, 
Vermont Route 30, 
Vermont Route 116, and 
Vermont Route 125. It borders the towns of New Haven and Bristol to the north, Ripton to the east, Cornwall and Weybridge to the west, and Salisbury to the south. A new bridge connecting Cross Street to Bakery Lane opened in November 2010 to serve as a shortcut and to alleviate traffic in downtown.[6]Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 8,183 people, 2,657 households, and 1,533 families residing in the town. The population density was 209.7 people per square mile (80.9/km2). There were 2,805 housing units at an average density of 71.9 per square mile (27.7/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 94.27% White, 1.09% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 1.87% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.13% of the population.
There were 2,657 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were couples living together and joined in either marriage or civil union, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.3% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.90.
Congregational Church (left) and St Stephen's Episcopal Church (right) on Main StreetIn the town the population was spread out with 17.5% under the age of 18, 31.4% from 18 to 24, 18.6% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $37,723, and the median income for a family was $46,691. Males had a median income of $32,645 versus $25,994 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,926. About 5.3% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.
Schools
Public
- Mary Hogan Elementary, Grades K-6
- Middlebury Union Middle School, Grades 7-8
- Middlebury Union High School, Grades 9-12
Private
- The Aurora School (kindergarten and elementary)
- Bridge School (elementary)
- St. Mary's Catholic Elementary School
- The Gailer School (Grades 7-12)
Medical Care
Middlebury and the surrounding area (Addison County) is served by Porter Medical Center.[7]
Notable people
Otter Creek Falls- Julia Alvarez, author.
- Joseph Battell, publisher and philanthropist.
- Thomas Treadwell Davis, congressman.
- John Deere, inventor and manufacturer.
- James Rood Doolittle, senator from Wisconsin.
- Jim Douglas, former governor of Vermont.
- Ronald D. Liebowitz, president of Middlebury College.
- John M. McCardell, Jr., president emeritus and professor at Middlebury College.
- James Meacham, congressman.
- Edward John Phelps, lawyer and diplomat.
- Samuel S. Phelps, senator.
- William H. Porter, banker.
- Steven C. Rockefeller, religion professor and son of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller.
- Patricia Ross, cross country skier.
- Horatio Seymour, senator.
- Patty Sheehan, golfer.
- William Slade, congressman and governor of Vermont.
- David Allen Smalley, judge.
- John Wolcott Stewart, senator and congressman.
- James M. Warner, manufacturer and general.
- Emma Willard, women's rights advocate and school founder.
- Isaac Wilson, congressman.
Points of interest
Middlebury in Popular Culture
A shot of Middlebury, Vermont appears as stock footage in the 30 Rock episode "Episode 210" The bridge over the waterfall appears in the film "Me Myself and Irene" A shot of the Waybury Inn in East Middlebury was used in the opening of the TV series "Newhart".
References
- ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Title 24, Part I, Chapter 1, §2, Vermont Statutes. Accessed 2007-11-01.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ Glenn M. Andres. "A Walking History of Middlebury". http://midddigital.middlebury.edu/walking_history/in_the_town/.
- ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39929135/ Middlebury Celebrates New Bridge
- ^ [1]
Further reading
- A. J. Coolidge & J. B. Mansfield, A History and Description of New England; Boston, Massachusetts 1859
- Samuel Swift, History of the Town of Middlebury, Vermont; A. H. Copeland, Middlebury, Vermont 1859
External links
- Town of Middlebury, Vermont
- Ilsley Public Library
- Middlebury College
- The Middlebury Community Network
- Early Vermont Maps and Atlases - Maps of Middlebury and the region from the 18th and 19th centuries. (hosted by Middlebury College).
Municipalities and communities of Addison County, Vermont Shire town: Middlebury City 
Towns CDP Other
communitiesChimney Point | Satans Kingdom
Categories:- Towns in Vermont
- Middlebury, Vermont
- County seats in Vermont
- Populated places in Addison County, Vermont
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
