Fairfax 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 Franklin 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, with a population of 5,014 at the 2020 census.

Geography

The

New England town The town is the basic unit of Local government in the United States, local government and local division of state authority in the six New England states. Most other U.S. states lack a direct counterpart to the New England town. New England town ...

of Fairfax is in southern Franklin County and is bordered by Chittenden County to the south. 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 , of which is land and , or 1.44%, is water. The

Lamoille River The Lamoille River is a river which runs through northern Vermont and drains into Lake Champlain. It is about in length, and has a drainage area of around . The river generally flows southwest, and then northwest, from the water divide of the ...

, a tributary of

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

, flows from east to west across the southern part of the town, passing through the communities of Fairfax and Fairfax Falls.

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 2010, there were 4,285 people, 1,591 households, and 1,226 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 105.8 people per square mile (40.8/km²). There were 1,683 housing units at an average density of 41.6 per square mile (16.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.8%

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 ...

and 1.3% Hispanic or Latino. There were 39.8% of households under the age of 18 living with them, 64.2% 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, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.9% were non-families and 16.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.00. The median income for a household in the town was $70,348, and the median income for a family was $77,159. 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 $18,632. About 2.7% of families and 4.8% 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 6.7% of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Bellows Free Academy – Fairfax, is a public K–12 school in Fairfax. The school has an average graduating class of 80 from students drawn from Fairfax and the surrounding towns of Fletcher,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, Fairfield, and Westford. As of 2010, the school's per-pupil tuition is $9,870 paid by the towns (sometimes from outside the school district) who send the students to the school. Hiram Bellows bought of land and left money for the construction of a free school in Fairfax, Vermont. 'Bellows Free Academy – Fairfax and Saint Albans' was built from the money earned in stocks willed to the town by Bellows. The stocks had been invested in the Chicago Rock Island Railway. When the stocks had earned $250,000, the school was constructed. The original school burned on January 14, 1941, and the current school is its replacement. The school's team name is The Bullets. It competes as a Division III school. School colors are maroon and white.

Notable people

* Donly C. Hawley, mayor of Burlington, Vermont * James M. Hotchkiss (1812–1877), member 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 ...

and

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 ...

* Israel Bush Richardson (1815–1862), United States Army officer during the Mexican–American War and American Civil War, where he was a major general in the Union Army. Mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam

References

External links

Town of Fairfax official website

Bellows Free Academy
{{authority control Burlington, Vermont metropolitan area Towns in Franklin County, Vermont