Richford 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, located along the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

. The population was 2,346 at the 2020 census. Richford is the birthplace of R. G. LeTourneau, an industrialist who founded

LeTourneau University LeTourneau University (; abbreviated LETU) is a private, interdenominational evangelical Christian university in Longview, Texas. Founded as LeTourneau Technical Institute in February 1946 by R. G. LeTourneau with his wife, Evelyn, the school in ...

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

. Richford is the eastern terminus of the Missisquoi Valley Rail-Trail.

Geography

Richford is located in the northeast corner of Franklin County, bordered to the north by the

Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality Brome-Missisquoi () is a regional county municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. It lies in the Eastern Townships area. The seat is Cowansville. In 2021, it was transferred to the Estrie region from Montérégie. In Parliament it is ...

in the

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. ...

region of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in Canada.

Orleans County, Vermont Orleans County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,393. Its shire town (county seat) is the city of Newport. The county was created in 1792 and organized in ...

, is to the east. Richford, the primary community, is in the northwest part of the town along the

Missisquoi River The Missisquoi River is a transboundary river of the east shore of Lake Champlain (via Missisquoi Bay), approximately long, in northern Vermont in the United States and southern Quebec in Canada. It drains a rural area of the northern Green Moun ...

Vermont Route 105 Vermont Route 105 (VT 105) is a state highway located in northern Vermont in the United States. The route runs from U.S. Route 7 in Vermont, U.S. Route 7 (US 7) in St. Albans (city), Vermont, St. Albans in the west to the New Ham ...

passes through the center of town, leading east across the

Green Mountains The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont and are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Que ...

to North Troy and southwest to Enosburg Falls. Vermont Route 139 leads north from the center of Richford to the international border. 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 0.61%, is water. The Missisquoi River enters from Canada and exits to the south; there are no significant lakes or ponds.

Surrounding areas

* North:

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 ...

: East Pinnacle,

Abercorn Abercorn ( Gaelic: ''Obar Chùirnidh'', Old English: ''Æbbercurnig'') is a village and civil parish in West Lothian, Scotland. Close to the south coast of the Firth of Forth, the village is around west of South Queensferry. The parish had a ...

, Glen Sutton, Alva, Domaine Mont Louis,

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

* East:

Jay Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

* Southeast: Westfield * South: Montgomery * Southwest: Enosburgh * West:

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

History

On October 8, 1908, a grain elevator owned by the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

exploded, killing thirteen people.

Government

The Essex-Orleans Senate district includes the town of Richford, 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 Vincent Illuzzi ( R) and Samuel Douglass (R).

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 2,321 people, 899 households, and 613 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 53.7 people per square mile (20.7/km²). There were 1,017 housing units at an average density of 23.5 per square mile (9.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.72%

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 ...

, 0.34%

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 ...

, 0.95% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.17% 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 0.69% of the population. There were 899 households, out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% 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, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.98. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.6 males. For every 100 women age 18 and over, there were 90.2 men. The median income for a household in the town was $28,125, and the median income for a family was $32,016. Males had a median income of $26,607 versus $20,731 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 $14,368. About 16.9% of families and 21.0% 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 30.6% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over.

National Register of Historic Places

Several buildings and structures are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, including St. Ann's Episcopal Church, the Sheldon Boright House, the F.W. Wheeler House, the Richford Primary School, the Missisquoi River Bridge, and the Downtown Richford Historic District.

Notable people

* John Blaisdell Corliss, U.S. congressman from Michigan * E. Henry Powell, state auditor * Max L. Powell,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Vermont State Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator represents at least 20,300 citizens. ...

* Percival L. Shangraw, Chief Justice of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The court ...

References

External links

Town of Richford official website

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