The Randolph Center Historic District encompasses the historic early town center of

Randolph, Vermont Randolph is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,774 at the 2020 census, making Randolph the largest town in Orange County. The town is a commercial center for many of the smaller, rural farming communities that ...

. Established in 1783, it was later eclipsed by Randolph Village, which developed around the town's main railroad depot. The village now has a distinguished array of late 18th and early 19th-century architecture, and is home to an academic campus now housing the

Vermont Technical College Vermont Technical College, commonly shortened to Vermont Tech, is a public technical college in Vermont with its main campuses in Randolph Center, Williston and Norwich. In addition, there are regional campuses in Brattleboro and Bennington, ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974.

Description and history

The central Vermont town of Randolph was founded in 1783, with its civic center located on the crest of north–south ridge near the geographic center of the town. The ridge is traversed by Main Street (part of which is designated Vermont Route 66), and the village became an important stop on the stagecoach route between Boston, Massachusetts and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. The village flourished, housing a number of industries, until the mid-19th century, when the Central Vermont Railroad was built further to the west. Since then, the economic and civic centers migrated to the area of the railroad depot, now known as Randolph Village. The center became more of a residential nexus, although it also benefited from the presence of an academic campus established in 1804. Originally housing the Randolph Academy, it is now home to the

. with The historic district extends along Main Street, roughly from Furnace Street in the north to South Randolph Street in the south. The district is mainly residential in character with Federal and Greek Revival houses of wood and brick. Notable exceptions including the historic wood-frame dormitory (now used for other purposes) at the front of the Vermont Technical College Campus, most of which consists of modern buildings and is excluded. At the southern end of the district stand the Congregational Church (1798, restyled in 1838 into the Greek Revival and Gothic Revival), a former Methodist Church building (1881), and the 1903 community school building.

References

{{NRHP in Orange County, Vermont Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, Vermont Greek Revival architecture in Vermont Gothic Revival architecture in Vermont Randolph, Vermont Historic districts in Orange County, Vermont

Description and history

See also

References