Middlesex, Vermont
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Middlesex is a
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in Washington County,
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
, United States. The population was 1,779 at the 2020 census.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the town has a total area of 39.9 square miles (103.2 km2), of which 39.7 square miles (102.7 km2) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.5 km2), or 0.53%, is water.


History

The town of Middlesex was granted by royal charter on June 8, 1763, by
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
colonial governor
Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant, landowner and colonial administrator who served as the List of colonial governors of New Hampshire, governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. He is best known ...
. The town takes its boundaries from
Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...
, incorporated the previous day, and
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
, which received its grant the same day as Middlesex. The source of the town's name is uncertain but it is supposed Wentworth, or a staff member, chose the name for its location between Waterbury and Worcester. Another possibility would be that Wentworth chose Middlesex to seek favor from English nobleman Charles Sackville who held the title Lord Middlesex until 1765, when he became Duke of Dorset. The town remained largely undeveloped through the period of the
Vermont Republic The Vermont Republic, officially known at the time as the State of Vermont, was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The state was founded in January 1777, when delegates from 28 towns met ...
and early Vermont statehood, with settlements in the village and Putnamville. The Putnam family were among the first settlers of the town. Seth Putnam was elected first
town clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...
in 1790; brothers Isaac and Jacob Putnam were elected town
surveyors Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...
. Middlesex village, situated along the
Winooski River The Winooski River (also known as the Onion River) is a tributary of Lake Champlain, about long, in the northern half of Vermont. Although not Vermont's longest river, it is one of the state's most significant, forming a major valley way fro ...
, is the town's chief settlement and location of the town hall. Middlesex Village obtained a post office in 1821 (that office closed in 1966). Middlesex Center is, as the name suggests, in the near center of the town situated northwest of the Great Brook and Brook Road. Shady Rill is rolling, mostly lowland where three brooks-Herrick, Martins, and Patterson, each named for a local family, converge with the North Branch which runs south to Wrightsville and Montpelier. A northern affiliation
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
church was built in Shady Rill in 1849. The village of Putnamville is located along the town's eastern border along the North Branch River. A waterfall there once powered grist and saw mills. A post office was opened in Putnamville, incongruously titled Putnamsville, in 1882 (this post office closed in 1935). Wrightsville, just south of Putnamville, was once a sizable settlement with nearly 30 built structures, and several mills. The Wrightsville Dam, built by the
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...
1933-35 in response to the 1927 flood, caused that settlement to be disbanded. The Northbranch Cemetery was moved southwest to Portal Road, and a majority of the mostly
Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...
houses were moved west up the hill to where the old Hood place presently stands. Off Portal Road and Bolduc Road is Tangletown Road, which takes its name from an area of town nicknamed Tangletown because the woods there are so thick and so alike that settlers reported getting "tangled up" (lost) in the area. The town had a large
bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
population well into the late nineteenth century. A recorded story tells of a farmer located between Middlesex Center and Bear Swamp finding one of his sheep killed by a bear. The farmer and his wife immediately walked their property to take stock of their flock. The farmer spotted a bear and killed it, soon afterward his wife called out that she sighted one and he shot that one, the couple returned to the barnyard and spotted a third bear-this one eating another of their sheep, and the farmer shot that bear as well. The area received the nickname Beartown. Through most of the nineteenth century and well into the mid-twentieth century, the primary economic activity was farming.
Dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...
, sheep herding (for wool),
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksorchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...
s and
maple sugaring Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...
have all been part of the town's economy. Following the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the town slowly transitioned to becoming a place to live for people who worked elsewhere, mostly in Montpelier.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 1,729 people, 663 households, and 485 families residing in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...
was 43.6 people per square mile (16.8/km2). There were 719 housing units at an average density of 18.1 per square mile (7.0/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 97.69%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.35%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.58% Native American, 0.23% Asian, and 1.16% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 0.40% of the population. There were 663 households, out of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% were couples living together and joined in either
marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
or
civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...
, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 19.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 2.96. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $51,765, and the median income for a family was $58,527. Males had a median income of $37,083 versus $30,147 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $22,965. About 4.3% of families and 6.2% 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 8.0% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.


Notable people

* George W. Bailey Jr.,
Secretary of State of Vermont The secretary of state of Vermont is one of five cabinet-level constitutional officers in the U.S. state of Vermont which are elected every two years. The secretary of state is fourth (behind the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House of Repr ...
*
David Carkeet David Carkeet (born November 15, 1946, Sonora, California) is an American novelist and essayist. Three of his novels have been named ''The New York Times Book Review'' Notable Books of the Year. Biography Carkeet grew up in the small northern Cal ...
, comic novelist * Robert M. Fisher (1928–2007), artist * Denise R. Johnson, first woman appointed to the
Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The court ...
*
Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy ( ; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who represented Vermont in the United States Senate from 1975 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he also was the pr ...
, Democratic US senator * Scudder Parker, Vermont state senator and 2006 Democratic nominee for governor *
Anthony Pollina Anthony Pollina (born February 17, 1952) is an American politician who has served as Chair of the Vermont Progressive Party since 2017, and was a member of the Vermont Senate from 2011 to 2023. Biography Anthony Pollina was born in Ridgewood, N ...
, Vermont state senator * Edson A. Putnam, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *
Sarah Strohmeyer Sarah Strohmeyer (born December 17, 1962) is an American author of eighteen crime novels and humorous books about relations between men and women. She is best known for her Bubbles Yablonsky series about a Pennsylvania hairdresser who is drawn in ...
, author of the
Bubbles Yablonsky Sarah Strohmeyer (born December 17, 1962) is an American author of eighteen crime novels and humorous books about relations between men and women. She is best known for her Bubbles Yablonsky series about a Pennsylvania hairdresser who is drawn i ...
series


References

* Miller, Peter. ''Vermont People.'' Vermont People Project: 1991. . * Rodgers, Steve. ''Country Towns of Vermont.'' McGraw-Hill: 1998. . * Seidman, Sarah, and Patricia Wiley. ''Middlesex in the Making: History and Memories of a Small Vermont Town.'' The Middlesex Historical Society: 2006. Self-published, no ISBN. * Strickland, Ron. ''Vermonters: Oral Histories from Down Country to the Northeast Kingdom.'' University Press of New England: 1986. . * Swift, Esther Monroe. ''Vermont Place Names: Footprints of History.'' The Stephen Greene Press: 1996 . * Van Susteren, Dirk, ''A Vermont Century: Photography and Essays from the Green Mountain State.'' Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus: 1999. .


External links

*
Town of Middlesex official website
{{authority control Towns in Vermont Towns in Washington County, Vermont