Marlboro 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 Windham 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 1,722 at the 2020 census. The town is home to the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum and Potash Hill, the campus that was formerly

Marlboro College Marlboro College was a private college in Marlboro, Vermont. Founded in 1946, it remained intentionally small, operating as a self-governing community with students following self-designed degree plans culminating in a thesis. In 1998, the colle ...

. Potash Hill hosts the Marlboro Music School and Festival each summer, as well as other arts and education programs throughout the year.

History

Named "New Marlborough" for the Duke of Marlborough until 1800,"Brief History of Marlboro"
on the Marlboro Historical Society website the town was a New Hampshire grant chartered on April 29, 1751, to Timothy Dwight and 64 others from

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and vicinity. The

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

prevented settlement, so the first charter was forfeited and a new one issued by Governor

Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant, landowner and colonial administrator who served as the List of colonial governors of New Hampshire, governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. He is best known ...

on September 21, 1761, then again on April 17, 1764, as New Marlborough. The town was surveyed in 1762, and 64 equal "rights" (divisions) were created, with four lots in the center of town excepted. First settled in 1763, the town grew rapidly between 1764 and 1770 with emigrants from Massachusetts and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. By 1799 there were 313 children registered in the town's schools. The town's population peaked in 1820 with 1300 people, the subsequent decline caused by immigration to the west and a downturn in the area's economy. Although the

terrain Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is mountainous, the soil is rich and deep, which allowed

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s to grow good crops. When the population was 896 in 1859, the community was almost exclusively

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

Town Common

Located on the Town Common are the Town House (1822), used for town meetings, the Town Offices and Post Office building (1969), the Marlboro Meeting House Congregational Church (1931), and the Whetstone Inn (). The town's first church was organized in 1776, and put up at the top of Town Hill in 1778. In 1820, it was replaced by a newer structure nearby, and timbers and board from the old church were used in 1822 to build the Town House, which was also located in the vicinity. Between 1836 and 1844 both of these buildings—the church and the Town House—were moved down the hill to about their current locations on the Town Common. The church burned down in 1931 was replaced by the current one, which is roughly a reproduction of its predecessor, except slightly smaller. After the move down the hill, Town House was on the east side of South Road, but when it was hit by a new, oversized snow plow in 1966, it was moved across the road to its current location. The Whetstone Inn was built around 1775 by Deacon Jonas Whitney, who arrived in Marlboro in 1773. Over its history, it has been various used as a courthouse, church, tavern, dance hall and post office.

20th century

In 1946,

was founded on the site of three farms"Marlboro College Through the Years"
on the Marlboro College website by Walter Hendricks, for returning

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

, with poet

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

as its first trustee. The Marlboro Music School and Festival, founded in 1951, is held each summer on the Potash Hill campus.

21st century

In 2006, Marlboro was one of the first American towns to have its citizens pass a resolution endorsing the impeachment of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, and in 2011 it was one of thirteen Vermont towns isolated by flooding caused by

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth tropical cyclone naming, named storm, first hurricane, and first major ...

.Cooper, Michael
"Floodwaters From Storm Isolate 13 Vermont Towns"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' (August 30, 2011)

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 40.7 square miles (105.3 km²), of which 40.3 square miles (104.5 km²) is land and 0.3 square mile (0.8 km²) (0.79%) is water. Marlboro is drained by the western branch of the West River, Whetstone Brook and the Green River. The town is crossed by Vermont Route 9, also known as the "Molly Stark Trail".

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 978 people, 330 households, and 215 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 24.3 people per square mile (9.4/km²). There were 497 housing units at an average density of 12.3 per square mile (4.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.32%

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 ...

, 0.20%

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 ...

, 0.20% Native American, 1.02% Asian, 0.41%

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 ...

, 0.72% from other races, and 1.12% 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 0.82% of the population. There were 330 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% 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, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.90. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.0% under the age of 18, 23.3% from 18 to 24, 20.1% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $41,429, and the median income for a family was $44,861. Males had a median income of $30,313 versus $25,673 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 $19,503. About 0.9% of families and 3.9% 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 1.9% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over. Colonel Williams Inn Marlboro Vermont

Education

Students from kindergarten to eighth grade attend Marlboro School, which replaced a number of one-room schoolhouses in 1954.

Media

Marlboro is home to the WRSY-FM, 101.5, radio station.

Sites of interest

* Marlboro Historical Society & Museum * Southern Vermont Natural History Museum

Notable people

* Pete Bernhard, member of the band The Devil Makes Three *

Newel Knight Newel Knight (September 13, 1800 – January 11, 1847) was a close friend of Joseph Smith and one of the first branch presidents in the Latter-day Saint movement. Born at Marlboro, Vermont, Knight was the son of Joseph Knight, Sr. and Polly Peck. ...

, religious leader *

Richard Lewontin Richard Charles Lewontin (March 29, 1929 – July 4, 2021) was an American evolutionary biologist, mathematician, geneticist, and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, ...

, biologist and treasurer of the Marlboro Historical Society * Margaret MacArthur, folk historian and musician * Joseph Mazur, professor of mathematics * Louis Moyse, flute player and composer * Blanche Honegger Moyse, conductor * Edson B. Olds, U.S. Congressman * Tasha Tudor, author and illustrator of children's books * Newel K. Whitney, prominent in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

and businessman

References

Notes

External links

Town of Marlboro, Vermont, official website
{{Authority control Towns in Vermont Towns in Windham County, Vermont