Shaftsbury Center is an

unincorporated village An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in the town of Shaftsbury in

Bennington County Bennington County is a county in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,347. The shire towns (county seats) are jointly Bennington ("The Southshire") and Manchester ("The Northshire"), and the largest municipal ...

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. Located on

Vermont Route 7A Vermont Route 7A (VT 7A) is a north–south state highway in Bennington County, Vermont, in the United States. It is an alternate route of U.S. Route 7 (US 7) between Bennington and Dorset. The route is signed as "Historic ...

at West Mountain and Tunic Roads, near the town's geographic center, it was the town's main civic center through the middle of the 19th century. It is now a modest village with agricultural and tourist-oriented economic interests. Most of the village is 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 v ...

as the Center Shaftsbury Historic District.

Geography

Shaftsbury Center is located near the geographic center of the town of Shaftsbury, stretched out for about along

on either side of its junctions with West Mountain and Tunic Roads. The road runs on the eastern flank of the

Taconic Range The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range () are a range of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western Vermont. ...

, and offers fine views across the valley to the

Green Mountains The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Quebec, Canada. The part of the same range that is in ...

further east.

History

The town of Shaftsbury was chartered in 1761 by

Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. While serving as governor, Wentworth is best known for issuing several la ...

, the colonial governor of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, who laid claim (along with the neighboring

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...

) to the area that is now Vermont. The dispute over the status of Vermont (then sometimes called the

New Hampshire Grants The New Hampshire Grants or Benning Wentworth Grants were land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by the colonial governor of the Province of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The land grants, totaling about 135 (including 131 towns), were made o ...

) would ultimately lead to its independence in 1777, and its eventual statehood as the 14th state. Part of the history of those events was played out in Shaftsbury Center, where the inn of

Jonas Galusha Jonas Galusha (February 11, 1753September 24, 1834) was the sixth and eighth governor of Vermont for two terms in the early 19th century. Biography Galusha, born in Norwich in the Colony of Connecticut, moved with his siblings and his parents, ...

, an eventual

Governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

, was a meeting point for both those events, and the participation of Vermont men in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Shaftsbury also sheltered rebels involved

Shays' Rebellion Shays Rebellion was an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts and Worcester in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry and in opposition to the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades. The ...

(1786–87) in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. As the town's civic center, it housed its first church and town meetinghouse. It developed as a predominantly agrarian community in the 19th century, but was bypassed by the railroad when it was laid through the town in 1850. This resulted a shift of economic and civic activity to South Shaftsbury, where a new town hall was built in 1880. Shaftsbury Center declined economically until the early 20th century, when the advent of automobile-propelled tourism brought new economic activity. Most of the village's buildings were built before 1880, and its oldest house, the 1764-5 Abiathar Waldo House, was built by one of its first settlers. Most of the village was listed on the

as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

in 1988.

References

{{NRHP in Bennington County, Vermont Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont National Register of Historic Places in Bennington County, Vermont Historic districts in Bennington County, Vermont

Geography

History

See also

References