Windham County, Vermont facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Windham County
U.S. county
Windham County courthouse in Newfane
Location within the U.S. state of Vermont
Vermont's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Vermont
Founded	1781
Named for	Windham, Vermont, which was named for Windham, Connecticut
Shire Town	Newfane
Largest town	Brattleboro
Area
• Total	798 sq mi (2,070 km2)
• Land	785 sq mi (2,030 km2)
• Water	13 sq mi (30 km2)  1.6%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	45,905
• Density	57.53/sq mi (22.211/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	At-large

Windham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,905. The shire town (county seat) is Newfane, and the largest municipality is the town of Brattleboro.

History

Fort Bridgman, Vernon, was burned in 1755, a casualty of the French and Indian War. The Court of Common Pleas (established 1768) of the County of Cumberland (established July 3, 1766) of the Province of New York was moved to the town of Westminster in 1772. On July 4, 1776, the Province of New York became an independent state.

On January 15, 1777, Vermont declared its independence from New York, and functioned as an independent republic until statehood in 1791. Cumberland County (N.Y.) and Gloucester County (N.Y.) were extinguished when Vermont declared its independence from New York; Albany County (N.Y.) and Charlotte County (now Washington County, N.Y.) were eliminated from Vermont.

Unity County was formed March 17, 1778, the eastern of the two original Vermont Republic counties. Unity County was renamed Cumberland County on March 21, 1778. Cumberland County and Bennington County (the eastern original county) exchanged land, adjusting their early border. On February 16, 1781 Rutland County was created from Bennington County, and Orange, Windham and Windsor Counties were created from Cumberland County. Some authors assume Cumberland County was renamed Windham County in 1781. Several original sources indicate Cumberland County was dissolved rather than renamed. This was probably to make a clean legal break from any connection with Cumberland County, New York, as some authors indicate the Cumberland County, Vermont Republic, records remained in Windham County. Newfane became the Shire Town of Windham County before 1812.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 798 square miles (2,070 km²), of which 785 square miles (2,030 km²) is land and 13 square miles (34 km²) (1.6%) is water. It is the third-largest county in Vermont by land area.

Adjacent counties

• Windsor County - north
• Sullivan County, New Hampshire - northeast
• Cheshire County, New Hampshire - east
• Franklin County, Massachusetts - south
• Bennington County - west

Reservoirs

• Ball Mountain Lake
• Harriman Reservoir (also sometimes called Lake Whitingham or Whitingham Reservoir)
• Townshend Lake

National protected areas

• Green Mountain National Forest (part)
• Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, 44,513 people, 19,290 households, and 11,453 families resided in the county. The population density was 56.7 inhabitants per square mile (21.9/km²). There were 29,735 housing units at an average density of 37.9 units per square mile (14.6 units/km²). The county's racial makeup was 95.3% white, 1.0% Asian, 0.9% black or African American, 0.3% American Indian, 0.5% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.8% of the population. The largest ancestry groups were:

• 21.8% Irish
• 21.7% English
• 12.3% French
• 11.7% German
• 8.6% Italian
• 8.2% American
• 5.5% Polish
• 4.9% French Canadian
• 4.5% Scottish
• 3.2% Scotch-Irish
• 3.0% Swedish
• 1.2% Welsh

Of the 19,290 households, 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.8% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 40.6% were non-families, and 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.79. The median age was 44.9 years.

The county's median household income was $46,714 and the median family income was $58,814. Males had a median income of $40,872 versus $33,278 for females. The county's per capita income was $27,247. About 6.3% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Law Enforcement

The Windham County Sheriff's Department is one source of law enforcement in the county, especially in areas with no local police departments. Where no coverage exists, the Vermont State Police are the de facto law enforcement agency. The following towns maintain a contract with the Windham County Sheriff's Department for patrol services: Athens, Dummerston, Grafton, Halifax, Jamaica, Londonderry, Marlboro, Newfane, Putney, Rockingham, Vernon, Westminster, and Windham. The current Sheriff is Mark Anderson, who was appointed in 2019 after Sheriff Keith Clark retired midway through his term.

In 2006, Sheriff Sheila Prue pled guilty to stealing department funds, using department equipment for personal use and for mismanagement of the department.

Transportation

Roads and highways

Windham County is crossed by:

Bus

Local bus service, particularly in and around Brattleboro and Bellows Falls, is provided by Connecticut River Transit's "The Current". The Current includes the entire Brattleboro BeeLine bus system, composed of the Red, Blue and White Lines, which also go to West Brattleboro and Hinsdale, New Hampshire. The Deerfield Valley Transit Association's fare-free MOOver serves mostly the southwestern portion of the county, especially the town of Wilmington and nearby ski areas. The MOOver also has bus connections to Bennington (in a partnership with the Green Mountain Express) to the west and Brattleboro, connecting to other local and intercity buses in both towns.

The national intercity bus service Greyhound serves Windham County with stops in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls daily.

Rail

Amtrak, the national intercity rail network, operates its Vermonter, running daily from St. Albans, Vermont to Washington, DC through Bellows Falls and Brattleboro with one daily northbound and southbound stop in both stations in the county.

Communities

Towns

In Vermont, towns are contiguous named places, subdivisions of counties, where there is permanent, year-round human population. They are usually formally incorporated, governing themselves in open town meetings (with very few exceptions), and their usual elected administrative body is called a selectboard. Though Brattleboro is by far the most populous town in the county, the historic "shire town" (county seat) is Newfane, and Windham County Superior Court is still there, as are the offices of the County Sheriff and the County Clerk.

Villages

Villages are named places and sometimes formal census divisions, but may or may not be incorporated separately within a town's borders.

Incorporated villages

• Bellows Falls
• Jacksonville
• Newfane
• Saxtons River
• Westminster

Census-designated places

Unincorporated Villages

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Windham (Vermont) para niños