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Charleston is a
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...
in Orleans County,
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...
, United States. The population was 1,021 at the 2020 census. The town contains three unincorporated villages: Charleston, East Charleston and West Charleston.


Local government


Town

* Selectman – Tom Jensen * Town Clerk – Teri Gray * Town Budget – $413,221 The proposed budget of $435,000, $345,040 of which was allocated to road maintenance, was rejected at the town meeting March 4, 2008.


School District

* Member,
North Country Union High School North Country Union High School (NCUHS, North Country, or NCU) is a secondary school located in Newport, Vermont, United States. It is operated by the North Country Supervisory Union school district. The school serves students from Newport Cit ...
Board – Peter Moscovites * School Board Chair – Nancy Tessier * Member, School Board – Jason Brueck, East Charleston; Bill McMaster (2009) * Number of students – 100 (current and projected) * Number of students in 2004 – 128 * School Budget for 2008 – $1,502,600 The Elementary school had 70% of the students qualified for free or reduced lunches. This was the highest percentage in the county in 2011.


History

Native
Abenakis The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...
told of how a large pond "ran away" similar to
Runaway Pond Runaway Pond is a marsh at the former site of Long Pond in Glover, Vermont. The name arose from an environmental disaster in 1810, when a manual attempt to divert some of the water of Long Pond broke the bank, causing the entire lake to suddenly em ...
in the 1780s before the area was explored by the descendants of Europeans. Commodore Abraham Whipple was given a grant to the town, along with 50–60 of his shipmates. He called it "Navy". Abner Allen, from Barton, Vermont, was the first settler in 1803. In 1825, the town of Navy changed its name to Charleston, presumably after a naval battle that had occurred off Charleston, South Carolina. During the Civil War Charleston furnished 121 enlisted men, thirty-five of whom were killed in action or died from the effects of wounds or disease contracted while in the service.Gazetteer of Lamoille and Orleans Counties, VT.; 1883-1884, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child; May 1887 In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the town had a number of mills. The population hit a high of 1700. A round barn (not uncommon for the time and place) was erected in Charleston in 1908. It was possibly the largest such structure in New England. The barn burned to the ground in 1918, though the large stone foundation can still be seen along the Ten Mile Square Road. A series of fires destroyed East Charleston May 18, 1921, and West Charleston on the following day.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...
, the town has a total area of 38.6 square miles (100.0 km2), of which 37.5 square miles (97.1 km2) is land and 1.1 square miles (2.9 km2) (2.93%) is water. The Clyde River is the largest stream in the town. It flows into Charleston, in a northwesterly direction nearly through its center. Falls are found on the river, especially in the western part of town, where it drops more than in , but its current is generally slow. Echo Lake, situated in the easterly part of the town, receives the waters of Lake Seymour in
Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer), ...
, and through that the waters of Holland Pond. Echo Lake is one mile (1.6 km) from East Charleston. It is one mile (1.6 km) and a half long and one mile (1.6 km) wide. General Whitelaw gave it the name of Echo Pond because when any sound was produced in its vicinity, it reverberated in various directions, producing a series of echoes. Pensioners Pond is the next in size, and was so named because of the pension of a revolutionary soldier who employed its water power. Toad Pond is above Pensioners Pond, near the great swamp on the Brownington line. Broadway Pond is near the Morgan line. The southwest part of town is delimited from its neighbor, the town of Brownington, by Chilafoux Road, which runs northwest-southeast, for about half its length.


Demographics

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2000, there were 895 people, 362 households, and 261 families residing in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 23.9 people per square mile (9.2/km2). There were 587 housing units at an average density of 15.7 per square mile (6.0/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 96.42%
White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
, 1.34% Native American, 0.34% Asian, and 1.90% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 0.45% of the population. There were 362 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.7% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 19.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.80. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $28,083, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $25,938 versus $19,911 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the town was $15,278. About 16.4% of families and 20.0% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 29.6% of those under age 18 and 23.9% of those age 65 or over.


Notable people

*
Benjamin Hunkins Benjamin Hunkins (September 10, 1810April 27, 1900) was an American politician who had a role in shaping the Wisconsin constitution. Early life Hunkins, born in Charleston, Vermont in 1810, was the son of settler Robert Hastings Hunkins and Hann ...
, pioneer and Wisconsin territorial and state legislator, was born in Charleston'Memorials and Biographical Record and Illustrated Compendium Biography,' G.A. Orge and Company: 1899, Biographical Sketch of Benjamin Hunkins, pg. 1101 * Robert Mills, Particle physicist; died in East Charleston, Vermont in 1999


References

{{authority control Towns in Vermont Towns in Orleans County, Vermont