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

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

Most areas of New England are entirely divided into incorporated municipalities, with no unincorporated territory. In the three northern New England states, however, some unincorporated territory does exist, generally in areas that are very sparsely populated. Bennington County contains a small amount of unincorporated territory, one of four counties in Vermont to have such areas. The unincorporated territory in Bennington County consists of a tract measuring about 44 square miles, in a remote area of the Green Mountains on the county’s eastern edge. This area was once incorporated as the town of Glastenbury, and is still sometimes referred to as “Glastenbury Township”. Glastenbury disincorporated in 1937 due to population loss; its population has reached double figures in only one census since 1920. Except for Glastenbury, all of Bennington County is incorporated.

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.

The main tables below show municipalities at the town level. The tables in the New England Historical U.S. Census Totals series differentiate between towns and cities; however, there have never been any cities in Bennington County. For any census, adding up the totals for each town-level municipality, including Glastenbury, should yield the county total. (Note that, for censuses up through 1930, Glastenbury was an incorporated town. In that era, Bennington County was entirely divided into incorporated municipalities, following the standard procedure in New England.) 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

*1937 – Glastenbury disincorporated and reverted to unorganized territory

1900

County Total: 21,705

*Bennington 8,033
*Pownal 1,976
*Manchester 1,955
*Shaftsbury 1,857
*Dorset 1,477
*Arlington 1,193
*Readsboro 1,139
*Rupert 863
*Stamford 677
*Sunderland 518
*Sandgate 482
*Winhall 449
*Peru 373
*Woodford 279
*Landgrove 225
*Searsburg 161
*Glastenbury 48

1910

County Total: 21,378

*Bennington 8,698
*Manchester 2,044
*Shaftsbury 1,650
*Pownal 1,599
*Dorset 1,472
*Arlington 1,307
*Readsboro 1,252
*Rupert 825
*Stamford 510
*Sunderland 494
*Sandgate 401
*Winhall 366
*Peru 242
*Woodford 187
*Landgrove 160
*Searsburg 142
*Glastenbury 29

1920

County Total: 21,577

*Bennington 9,982
*Manchester 2,057
*Shaftsbury 1,534
*Pownal 1,396
*Arlington 1,370
*Dorset 1,226
*Readsboro 1,173
*Rupert 674
*Sunderland 409
*Stamford 374
*Winhall 336
*Sandgate 283
*Woodford 231
*Peru 216
*Landgrove 143
*Searsburg 133
*Glastenbury 40

1930

County Total: 21,655

*Bennington 10,628
*Manchester 2,004
*Shaftsbury 1,631
*Arlington 1,441
*Pownal 1,425
*Dorset 1,120
*Readsboro 1,043
*Rupert 691
*Sunderland 375
*Stamford 370
*Winhall 229
*Sandgate 189
*Peru 156
*Woodford 139
*Landgrove 104
*Searsburg 103
*Glastenbury 7

1940

County Total: 22,286

*Bennington 11,257
*Manchester 2,139
*Shaftsbury 1,577
*Arlington 1,418
*Pownal 1,402
*Dorset 1,128
*Readsboro 913
*Rupert 678
*Sunderland 442
*Stamford 418
*Winhall 212
*Sandgate 187
*Woodford 170
*Peru 142
*Searsburg 135
*Landgrove 64

Unorganized territory (the former town of Glastenbury) reported 4 residents.

1950

County Total: 24,115

*Bennington 12,411
*Manchester 2,425
*Shaftsbury 1,673
*Arlington 1,463
*Pownal 1,453
*Dorset 1,150
*Readsboro 847
*Rupert 713
*Stamford 514
*Sunderland 493
*Winhall 255
*Woodford 198
*Peru 197
*Sandgate 158
*Searsburg 84
*Landgrove 80

Unorganized territory (the former town of Glastenbury) reported 1 resident.

1960

County Total: 25,088

*Bennington 13,002
*Manchester 2,470
*Shaftsbury 1,939
*Arlington 1,605
*Pownal 1,509
*Dorset 1,150
*Readsboro 783
*Rupert 603
*Stamford 600
*Sunderland 566
*Winhall 245
*Woodford 207
*Peru 194
*Sandgate 93
*Searsburg 73
*Landgrove 49

Unorganized territory (the former town of Glastenbury) reported no residents.

1970

County Total: 29,282

*Bennington 14,586
*Manchester 2,919
*Pownal 2,441
*Shaftsbury 2,411
*Arlington 1,934
*Dorset 1,293
*Stamford 752
*Readsboro 638
*Sunderland 601
*Rupert 582
*Woodford 286
*Winhall 281
*Peru 243
*Sandgate 127
*Landgrove 104
*Searsburg 84

Unorganized territory (the former town of Glastenbury) reported no residents.

1980

County Total: 33,345

*Bennington 15,815
*Pownal 3,269
*Manchester 3,261
*Shaftsbury 3,001
*Arlington 2,184
*Dorset 1,648
*Stamford 773
*Sunderland 768
*Readsboro 638
*Rupert 605
*Winhall 327
*Woodford 314
*Peru 312
*Sandgate 234
*Landgrove 121
*Searsburg 72

Unorganized territory (the former town of Glastenbury) reported 3 residents.

1990

County Total: 35,845

*Bennington 16,451
*Manchester 3,622
*Pownal 3,485
*Shaftsbury 3,368
*Arlington 2,299
*Dorset 1,918
*Sunderland 872
*Stamford 773
*Readsboro 762
*Rupert 654
*Winhall 482
*Woodford 331
*Peru 324
*Sandgate 278
*Landgrove 134
*Searsburg 85

Unorganized territory (the former town of Glastenbury) reported 7 residents.

2000

County Total: 36,994

*Bennington 15,737
*Manchester 4,184
*Shaftsbury 3,767
*Pownal 3,560
*Arlington 2,397
*Dorset 2,036
*Sunderland 850
*Stamford 813
*Readsboro 805
*Rupert 704
*Winhall 702
*Peru 416
*Woodford 414
*Sandgate 353
*Landgrove 144
*Searsburg 96

Unorganized territory (the former town of Glastenbury) reported 16 residents.

Villages

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

As of 1930, Bennington County contained five incorporated villages:

*The village of Bennington, within the town of the same name

*The village of Manchester (inc. 1902), within the town of the same name

*The village of North Bennington (inc. 1866), within the town of Bennington

*The village of Old Bennington (inc. 1902, originally called Bennington Center), within the town of Bennington

*The village of Readsboro, within the town of the same name

The village of Bennington disincorporated in 1970, and the village of Readsboro disincorporated in 1986.

Note: complete data for 1900, 1910 and 1920 are not available, but the population of the village of Bennington was 5,656 in 1900, 6,211 in 1910, and 7,230 in 1920.

1930

*Bennington 7,390
*North Bennington 933
*Readsboro 722
*Manchester 337
*Old Bennington 174

1940

*Bennington 7,628
*North Bennington 992
*Readsboro 667
*Manchester 325
*Old Bennington 169

1950

*Bennington 8,002
*North Bennington 1,327
*Readsboro 654
*Manchester 454
*Old Bennington 198

1960

*Bennington 8,023
*North Bennington 1,437
*Readsboro 577
*Manchester 403
*Old Bennington 205

1970

*Bennington 7,950
*North Bennington 984
*Readsboro 469
*Manchester 435
*Old Bennington 268

1980

*North Bennington 1,685
*Manchester 563
*Readsboro 402
*Old Bennington 353

1990

*North Bennington 1,520
*Manchester 561
*Old Bennington 279

2000

*North Bennington 1,428
*Manchester 602
*Old Bennington 232

Notes

2000 Census

The Census Bureau made a number of revisions to 2000 census totals subsequent to their initial release. The 2000 total for the town of Manchester was originally reported as 4,180; and for the town of Readsboro, 809. The totals were later revised to those shown in the list above. This was apparently done to correct an assignment error between the two towns; the collective population of the two is the same using either set of figures, so the county total was not affected.

ee also

*United States Census
*Bennington County, Vermont