Ripton 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 Addison 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 739 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Ripton is located in east-central Addison County, in 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 ...

of Vermont. The highest point in the town is the summit of

Bread Loaf Mountain Bread Loaf Mountain is a mountain located in Addison County, Vermont, in the Breadloaf Wilderness in the Green Mountain National Forest. The mountain is part of the central Green Mountains. Bread Loaf Mountain is flanked to the northeast by ...

. The mountain lends its name to the community of Bread Loaf and to the writers' conference that is held there every summer. Although the approach to Middlebury Gap begins in Ripton, the Gap's height-of-land is in neighboring Hancock. Ripton is bordered by the town of Middlebury to the west,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and Lincoln to the north, Granville to the east, Hancock to the southeast, Goshen to the south, and

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

to the southwest. 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 ...

, Ripton has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.34%, is water. Ripton is mountainous and largely populated by

northern hardwood forest The northern hardwood forest is a general type of North American forest ecosystem found over much of southeastern and south-central Canada, Ontario, and Quebec, extending south into the United States in northern New England, New York, and Penns ...

Events

The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is held annually in Ripton. Jessica Ravitz of

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

said that the town "is the kind of place where cell service fails more often than it works and the country store is really just that....Tibetan prayer flags wave outside a weather-worn home, and the fog lifts to reveal a white horse grazing in a field".Ravitz, Jessica.
Imprisoned and interrogated, a college student's accidental education
" ''

''. April 28, 2011. Retrieved on April 28, 2011.

Demographics

At the 2000 census, there were 556 people, 210 households and 152 families residing in the town. The population density was 11.2 per square mile (4.3/km²). There were 283 housing units at an average density of 5.7 per square mile (2.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.66%

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%

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 ...

, 0.18% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.18% from other races, and 1.44% 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 0.54% of the population. There were 210 households, of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.2% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. Of all households 22.4% were made up of individuals, and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.89. Age distribution was 26.1% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.5 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $39,583, and the median family income was $47,813. Males had a median income of $36,250 versus $30,893 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 $19,597. About 10.3% of families and 15.6% 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 25.2% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Robert Durst, multi-millionaire and convicted murderer lived in Ripton in 1971–1972 *

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 ...

, poet *

Bill McKibben William Ernest McKibben (born December 8, 1960)"Bill Ernest McKibben." ''Environmental Encyclopedia''. Edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, December 31, 2017. is a ...

, environmentalist and climate change author

References

External links

Town of Ripton official website

Bread Loaf Writer's Conference

{{authority control Towns in Addison County, Vermont Towns in Vermont