Albany 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 Orleans 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 976 at the 2020 census. Albany contains four villages: the incorporated village of Albany, and the unincorporated villages of Albany Center, East Albany and South Albany.

History

The original land grant was given to Col. Antipas Gilman and associates on June 26, 1782, and was named "Lutterloh." In 1815, the name of the town was changed to "Albany." Albany resident Rev. George Putnam was an

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

agent before the Civil War.

Government

Town

* Moderator – Gary Heath Mason * Selectman – Norman Inkel, Brian Goodrich, Phil Beaudry * Town Clerk – Debra Ann Geoffroy * Town Treasurer – Debra Ann Geoffroy * Delinquent Tax Collector – Debra Ann Geoffroy * Listers – Sue Richardson, Kathy Wilder & Dylan Kinsey * Auditor – H. Jane Rayner, Janet Reed & Francis Jarvis * First Constable – William Doherty * Grand Juror – Stuart Soboleski * Town Agent – Mike Nelson * Highway Budget – $220,000.00 * Town Sexton – Richard Geoffrey

School district

* Director, Albany – Adam Trevits * Director,

Orleans Central Supervisory Union The Orleans Central Supervisory Union is a school district responsible for the education of students in the Vermont towns of Albany, Barton, Brownington, Glover, Irasburg, Orleans, and Westmore. This requires maintaining one elementary sc ...

– Jennifer Foehr-McKenzie * Budget – $1,944,075

Legislature

The Essex-Orleans Senate district includes the town of Albany, as well as parts or all of Essex County, Orleans County, Franklin County and Lamoille County. It is represented in the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator repre ...

by John Rodgers ( D) and Robert A. Starr ( D). In the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

, Albany forms part of the Orleans-Caledonia-1 district. Its representatives are Vicki Strong ( R) and Sam Young ( D).

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 38.7 square miles (100.2 km), of which 38.5 square miles (99.7 km) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.5 km) (0.52%) is water. The town is hilly and uneven. The highest point in town is in the northwestern part of the township, which is cut off from the main chain of the Green Mountains by a brook. Lord's Creek flows north through the eastern part of the township, having several tributaries. There are other minor streams in town. There are also several ponds, the principal of which are Great Hosmer, Hartwell, Page, Heart, and Duck ponds.Gazetteer of Lamoille and Orleans Counties, VT.; 1883-1884, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child; May 1887 The Black River flows north through Albany Village, crosses under the Water Street Bridge before emptying into

Lake Memphremagog Lake Memphremagog (; , ) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport (city), Vermont, Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed th ...

near Newport, Vermont, which is part of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

Basin. The rocks entering into the geological formation of the town are disposed in parallel ranges extending north and south. The westernmost of these contains a bed of talcose schist. Next is a narrow range of Upper Helderberg limestone, followed by a vein of clay slate, the residue of the territory being calciferous mica

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

. In the central and eastern parts of the town there are several rich beds of muck and shell

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

. There are also some ledges of granite rocks.

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 840 people, 337 households, and 237 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 21.8 people per square mile (8.4/km). There were 453 housing units at an average density of 11.8 per square mile (4.5/km). The racial makeup of the town was 97.50%

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 ...

, 0.24%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.60% Native American, 0.12%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, and 1.55% 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 0.24% of the population. There were 337 households, out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.3% were

married couples 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 ...

living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.97. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.4% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.3 males.

Economy

Personal income

The median income for a household in the town was $30,625, and the median income for a family was $33,750. Males had a median income of $26,094 versus $20,833 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 $15,287. About 14.3% of families and 15.3% 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 20.9% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.

Major route

* VT Route 14

Cultural events

The Northeast Kingdom Music Festival held annual performances in Albany in the early 2000s. Attendance was limited to 2000.

Notable people

* Willard W. Miles, Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court