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Charleston is a
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
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 ...
, 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 C ...
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 told of how a large pond "ran away" similar to Runaway Pond in the 1780s before the area was explored by the descendants of Europeans.
Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...
Abraham Whipple Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...
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 Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
. 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. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, 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, 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 incl ...
of 2000, there were 895 people, 362 households, and 261 families residing in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
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 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 reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 1.34% Native American, 0.34%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, and 1.90% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, 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 Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
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 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 t ...
, including 29.6% of those under age 18 and 23.9% of those age 65 or over.


Notable people

* Benjamin Hunkins, 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 East Charleston is an unincorporated village in the town of Charleston, Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The community is located along Vermont Route 105 southeast of Newport. East Charleston has a post office A post office is a p ...
in 1999


References

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