Historical U.S. Census totals for Washington County, Vermont

This article shows U.S. Census totals for Washington County, Vermont, broken down by municipality, from 1900 to 2000.

Like most areas of New England, Washington County is (and has been at all times since well before the 20th century) entirely divided into incorporated municipalities. There is no unincorporated territory.

There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont: towns, cities and villages. As in the other New England states, towns are the basic unit of municipal government. Cities are independent of and equivalent to towns, but differ in their form of government. Villages overlay towns and assume responsibility for some municipal services within their boundaries. Incorporated villages are not found in any of the other New England states, and are less common in Vermont today than they have been in the past. A number of villages have disincorporated over the years, choosing to revert back to full town control; most of those that remain are very small.

It is possible for a village to become a city, in which case it becomes a completely separate municipality from its original parent town. Many of Vermont’s current cities are former villages (unlike the other New England states where cities are almost invariably former towns). If a village bearing the same name as its parent town becomes a city, the result is an adjacent town and city that have the same name but are completely separate municipalities. There is one such example in Washington County. The present-day city of Barre was originally an incorporated village within the town of Barre. When the village became a city, however, it ceased to be part of the town, and the town and city are now two distinct municipalities with no overlap or relationship to one another.

The main tables below show municipalities at the town level, differentiating between towns and cities. For any census, adding up the totals for each town-level municipality should yield the county total. A separate section follows with population totals for villages from 1930 to 2000.

For more information on the New England municipal system, see New England town.

Corporate changes since 1900

There have been no changes in Washington County’s town-level municipality roster since 1900.

1900

County Total: 36,607

*Barre (city) 8,448
*Montpelier (city) 6,266
*Barre [town] 3,346
*Northfield 2,855
*Waterbury 2,810
*Cabot 1,126
*Calais 1,101
*East Montpelier 1,061
*Marshfield 1,032
*Berlin 1,021
*Moretown 902
*Middlesex 883
*Woodbury 862
*Warren 826
*Duxbury 778
*Waitsfield 760
*Plainfield 716
*Roxbury 712
*Worcester 636
*Fayston 466

1910

County Total: 41,702

*Barre (city) 10,734
*Montpelier (city) 7,856
*Barre [town] 4,194
*Waterbury 3,273
*Northfield 3,226
*Cabot 1,116
*Berlin 1,079
*Calais 1,042
*Marshfield 1,011
*East Montpelier 985
*Moretown 886
*Middlesex 858
*Warren 825
*Woodbury 824
*Plainfield 785
*Waitsfield 709
*Duxbury 648
*Roxbury 615
*Worcester 584
*Fayston 452

1920

County Total: 38,921

*Barre (city) 10,008
*Montpelier (city) 7,125
*Barre [town] 3,862
*Waterbury 3,542
*Northfield 3,096
*Cabot 1,036
*Berlin 959
*Moretown 930
*East Montpelier 918
*Marshfield 898
*Calais 865
*Plainfield 781
*Middlesex 762
*Woodbury 686
*Waitsfield 682
*Warren 654
*Duxbury 631
*Roxbury 609
*Worcester 453
*Fayston 424

1930

County Total: 41,733

*Barre (city) 11,307
*Montpelier (city) 7,837
*Barre [town] 4,280
*Waterbury 4,045
*Northfield 3,438
*Cabot 1,107
*Berlin 992
*East Montpelier 965
*Moretown 888
*Marshfield 872
*Calais 811
*Plainfield 766
*Middlesex 751
*Waitsfield 723
*Roxbury 594
*Duxbury 553
*Woodbury 529
*Warren 486
*Worcester 471
*Fayston 318

1940

County Total: 41,546

*Barre (city) 10,909
*Montpelier (city) 8,006
*Waterbury 4,118
*Barre [town] 4,052
*Northfield 3,601
*Berlin 1,111
*East Montpelier 1,025
*Moretown 975
*Cabot 974
*Marshfield 901
*Plainfield 832
*Calais 818
*Middlesex 817
*Waitsfield 706
*Duxbury 554
*Roxbury 554
*Woodbury 463
*Warren 450
*Worcester 396
*Fayston 284

1950

County Total: 42,870

*Barre (city) 10,922
*Montpelier (city) 8,599
*Northfield 4,314
*Waterbury 4,276
*Barre [town] 4,145
*Berlin 1,158
*East Montpelier 1,128
*Plainfield 945
*Middlesex 887
*Moretown 883
*Marshfield 830
*Cabot 826
*Calais 778
*Waitsfield 661
*Warren 498
*Duxbury 489
*Roxbury 465
*Woodbury 449
*Worcester 445
*Fayston 172

1960

County Total: 42,860

*Barre (city) 10,387
*Montpelier (city) 8,782
*Barre [town] 4,580
*Northfield 4,511
*Waterbury 4,303
*Berlin 1,306
*East Montpelier 1,200
*Plainfield 966
*Marshfield 891
*Moretown 788
*Middlesex 770
*Cabot 763
*Calais 684
*Waitsfield 658
*Duxbury 546
*Warren 469
*Worcester 417
*Roxbury 364
*Woodbury 317
*Fayston 158

1970

County Total: 47,659

*Barre (city) 10,209
*Montpelier (city) 8,609
*Barre [town] 6,509
*Northfield 4,870
*Waterbury 4,614
*Berlin 2,050
*East Montpelier 1,597
*Plainfield 1,399
*Marshfield 1,033
*Moretown 904
*Middlesex 857
*Waitsfield 837
*Cabot 663
*Calais 749
*Duxbury 621
*Warren 588
*Worcester 505
*Woodbury 399
*Roxbury 354
*Fayston 292

1980

County Total: 52,393

*Barre (city) 9,824
*Montpelier (city) 8,241
*Barre [town] 7,090
*Northfield 5,435
*Waterbury 4,465
*Berlin 2,454
*East Montpelier 2,205
*Waitsfield 1,300
*Marshfield 1,267
*Plainfield 1,249
*Middlesex 1,235
*Moretown 1,221
*Calais 1,207
*Cabot 958
*Warren 956
*Duxbury 877
*Worcester 727
*Fayston 657
*Woodbury 573
*Roxbury 452

1990

County Total: 54,928

*Barre (city) 9,482
*Montpelier (city) 8,247
*Barre [town] 7,411
*Northfield 5,610
*Waterbury 4,589
*Berlin 2,561
*East Montpelier 2,239
*Calais 1,521
*Middlesex 1,514
*Waitsfield 1,422
*Moretown 1,415
*Marshfield 1,331
*Plainfield 1,302
*Warren 1,172
*Cabot 1,043
*Duxbury 976
*Worcester 906
*Fayston 846
*Woodbury 766
*Roxbury 575

2000

County Total: 58,039

*Barre (city) 9,291
*Montpelier (city) 8,035
*Barre [town] 7,602
*Northfield 5,791
*Waterbury 4,915
*Berlin 2,864
*East Montpelier 2,578
*Middlesex 1,729
*Warren 1,681
*Waitsfield 1,659
*Moretown 1,653
*Calais 1,529
*Marshfield 1,496
*Duxbury 1,289
*Plainfield 1,286
*Cabot 1,213
*Fayston 1,141
*Worcester 902
*Woodbury 809
*Roxbury 576

Villages

This section lists census totals for incorporated villages for 1930 through 2000.

As of 1930, Washington County contained five incorporated villages:

*The village of Cabot (inc. 1866), within the town of the same name

*The village of Marshfield (inc. 1911), within the town of the same name

*The village of Northfield (inc. 1855), within the town of the same name

*The village of Plainfield, primarily within the town of the same name, but also extending into the town of Marshfield

*The village of Waterbury (inc. 1882), within the town of the same name

The village of Plainfield disincorporated in 1985.

1930

*Waterbury 2,858
*Northfield 2,075
*Plainfield 447 (422 in the town of Plainfield, 25 in the town of Marshfield)
*Cabot 232
*Marshfield 207

1940

*Waterbury 3,074
*Northfield 2,129
*Plainfield 521 (477 in the town of Plainfield, 44 in the town of Marshfield)
*Marshfield 292
*Cabot 265

1950

*Waterbury 3,153
*Northfield 2,262
*Plainfield 604 (564 in the town of Plainfield, 40 in the town of Marshfield)
*Marshfield 274
*Cabot 219

1960

*Waterbury 2,984
*Northfield 2,159
*Plainfield 507 (459 in the town of Plainfield, 48 in the town of Marshfield)
*Marshfield 313
*Cabot 244

1970

*Waterbury 2,840
*Northfield 2,139
*Plainfield 491 (445 in the town of Plainfield, 46 in the town of Marshfield)
*Marshfield 322
*Cabot 253

1980

*Northfield 2,033
*Waterbury 1,892
*Plainfield 599 (461 in the town of Plainfield, 138 in the town of Marshfield)
*Marshfield 301
*Cabot 259

1990

*Northfield 1,889
*Waterbury 1,702
*Marshfield 257
*Cabot 220

2000

*Northfield 3,208
*Waterbury 1,706
*Marshfield 262
*Cabot 239

Notes

1930 Census

The 1930 Census figure for the village of Waterbury was originally reported as 1,776. The 1940 Census reports contain the following note: ““Figures for 1930 and 1920 for Waterbury village have been corrected to include population (1,082 in 1930; 850 in 1920) of Vermont State Hospital for Insane, erroneously returned as in Waterbury town outside the village.” This had no effect of the overall figure for the town of Waterbury.

1970 Census

The Census Bureau made a number of revisions to 1970 census totals subsequent to their initial release. The 1970 total for the village of Plainfield was originally reported as 949 (903 in the town of Plainfield, 44 in the town of Marshfield). The total for the portion of the village in the town of Plainfield was later revised; the list above reflects the revised totals. This had no effect on the overall figure for the town of Plainfield.

ee also

*United States Census
*Washington County, Vermont