Barre ( ) 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 7,923 at the 2020 census, making it the 3rd largest municipality in Washington County and the 16th largest municipality in Vermont. Popularly referred to as "Barre Town", the town of Barre almost completely surrounds " Barre City", which is a separate municipality. The original town now known as Barre was first chartered in 1780 as the Town of Wildersburgh. In 1793 the name Wildersburgh was unpopular with the inhabitants and the name of the town was changed to Barre. In 1895 the City of Barre was incorporated and separated from the town of Barre, and both continue to exist as separate municipalities.

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 30.7 square miles (79.5 km²), of which 30.6 square miles (79.4 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.1 km²) (0.16%) is water. Barre is the self-proclaimed "

Granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

Center of the World". Initially established with the discovery of vast granite deposits at Millstone Hill soon after the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, the granite industry and the town itself saw a boom with the arrival of the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

. The fame of this vast deposit of granite, which some geologists say is long, wide and deep, soon spread to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Large numbers of people migrated to Barre from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, Canada, and a number of other countries. The population increased from 2,060 in 1880, to 6,790 in 1890, to 10,000 in 1894. Millstone Hill and the nearby Barre Town Forest are now the site of a recreational, wooded trail network, where the mining holes and grout piles are still peppered throughout.

Government

Barre Town is represented by Francis "Topper" McFaun (R) and Robert LaClair (R) in the Washington-2 district of 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 ...

. It is represented by Ann Cummings (D-Montpelier), Anthony Pollina (P-Middlesex) and Andrew Perchlik (D-Montpelier) in the Washington district of 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 ...

Local government

All governmental authority of the Town rests with the citizens of the Town, who exercise their powers in Town meeting and/or Town elections, and to whom the elected and appointed officers of the Town are ultimately responsible. Except as otherwise provided in the Town Charter, all the powers of the Town shall be entrusted to and exercised by a Selectboard composed of five members chosen by the voters of the Town. Three members shall be elected for terms of three years, and two members shall be elected for terms of two years. The Selectboard shall discharge all the duties conferred or imposed upon selectboards by law, including the duties of sewer commissioners, Board of Liquor Commissioners, Local Board of Health, and any similar ex officio duties. The Town Manager is the Chief Administrative Officer of the Town and he or she is appointed by the Selectboard. * Selectboard – Paul White (Chair), Norma Malone (Vice-Chair), W. John "Jack" Mitchell, Bob Nelson, and Justin Bolduc. * Town Manager – Carl Rogers * Town Clerk – Tina Lunt

Communities

* " Barre City" is incorporated separately from the Town ("Barre Town"). * East Barre is an unincorporated village and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) located near the eastern border of the town at the intersection of U.S. Route 302 and Vermont Route 110 next to the Jail Branch of the Winooski River. * Graniteville, a CDP near the southern border of the town, is home to the Rock of Ages E.L. Smith Quarry, the world's largest deep hole quarry. It was used as a backdrop in '' Batman & Robin'' and ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

''. * South Barre is an unincorporated village and CDP located south of the City of Barre, along Vermont Route 14 and the Stevens Branch of the Winooski River. * Websterville is an unincorporated village and CDP.

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 7,602 people, 2,951 households, and 2,216 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 248.1 people per square mile (95.8/km²). There were 3,046 housing units at an average density of 99.4 per square mile (38.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.47%

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 ...

, 0.18%

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 ...

, 0.09% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.18% from other races, and 0.78% 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 1.51% of the population. There were 2,951 households, out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.0% 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 ...

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 ...

, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 20.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 2.95. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.6% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $46,563, and the median income for a family was $53,565. Males had a median income of $32,873 versus $26,061 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 $21,609. About 3.7% of families and 5.2% 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 6.9% of those under age 18 and 1.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Barre Town has its own public school, Barre Town Middle and Elementary School, which hosts students from pre-school through grade eight. The public high school is Spaulding High School and is located in Barre City. Also located in Barre Town are the Websterville Christian Academy and the Montessori School of Central Vermont.

Notable people

* Jodi Cilley, film producer, educator and entrepreneur * Lui Collins, singer-songwriter (folk) * Madelyn Davidson,

Vermont State Treasurer The State Treasurer's Office is responsible for several administrative and service duties, in accordance with Vermont Statutes. These include: investing state funds; issuing state bonds; serving as the central bank for state agencies; managing th ...

* A. Clarke Dodge (1834–1916), Wisconsin businessman and politician * Norman Dubie, poet * D. C. Jarvis (1881–1966), physician *

Miranda July Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. She wrote, di ...

, performance artist, musician, writer, and film director * Dave Moody,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

commentator *

Katherine Paterson Katherine Paterson (née Womeldorf; born October 31, 1932) is an American writer best known for Children's literature, children's novels, including ''Bridge to Terabithia (novel), Bridge to Terabithia'' (1977), which won the Newbery Medal in 197 ...

, Newbery Award-winning author of books for children * Tracey Poirier, Vermont National Guard brigadier general * Helen Bonchek Schneyer, folk musician

References

External links

Town of Barre official website

Vermont Granite Museum
{{Washington County, Vermont Towns in Vermont Towns in Washington County, Vermont

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 ...