Rockingham 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 ...

along the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

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. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,832. Rockingham includes the incorporated villages of Bellows Falls and

Saxtons River The Saxtons River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Vermont, a tributary of the Connecticut River. Its watershed covers and ...

, as well as a large rural area west of

Interstate 91 Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It is the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. Its southern terminus is in New Haven, Connecticut, at I-95, whi ...

. Rockingham has no formal town center; instead, town offices and the Rockingham Public Library are located in the village of Bellows Falls. The approximate center is the Rockingham Meeting House, passed by Route 103, a popular east–west route across the state. The Meeting House was built in Rockingham Village, once the main settlement in the town, but with the increased use of water power for manufacturing, population shifted to other villages located on the two rivers in the town. Most of what was left of Rockingham Village (over a dozen buildings, also called the Old Town) burned in a fire on April 14, 1908; the fire came close to the Meeting House but it was saved. The houses, hotel, and store that burned were not rebuilt.

History

One of the

New Hampshire grants The New Hampshire Grants or Benning Wentworth Grants were land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by the colonial governor of the Province of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The land grants, totaling about 135 (including 131 towns), were made ...

, it was chartered 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 December 28, 1752, and named for

Lord Rockingham Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782), styled The Honourable Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1739, Viscount Higham between 1739 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750, and the Marquess of R ...

. The township was granted to Samuel Johnson and 72 others. When the Town was first settled in 1753 by

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

s, its rivers were sites of fishing for

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

and

shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

,A. J. Coolidge & J. B. Mansfield, ''A History and Description of New England;'' Boston, Massachusetts 1859
/ref> as they had been for the original indigenous inhabitants. By 1771, the population reached 225. In 1785, Colonel

Enoch Hale Colonel Enoch Hale (1733–1813) was born in Rowley, Province of Massachusetts Bay, on November 28, 1733. He and his brother Nathan (who was not the like-named Nathan Hale, famous spy of the American Revolution) lived as children in Hampstead, Prov ...

erected the first bridge over the

, and until 1796, it remained the only bridge across. The village of Bellows Falls became an important

mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more List of types of mill#Manufacturing facilities, mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe ...

, which reduced the runs of palatable fish.

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 42.3 square miles (109.6 km²), of which 41.9 square miles (108.5 km²) is land and 0.4 square mile (1.1 km²) (0.97%) is water. It is drained by the Williams and the Saxtons rivers, and several brooks that flow directly into the

; the latter river forms the eastern boundary of Rockingham. The highest point in town is Berry Hill at 478 m/1568 ft elevation, near the northwestern corner of the town. The lowest point is on the

at the southern boundary of town, at 73 m/240 ft elevation. The town is crossed by

U.S. Route 5 U.S. Route 5 (US 5) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Conn ...

Vermont Route 103 Vermont Route 103 (VT 103) is a north–south state highway in southern Vermont, United States. It runs from U.S. Route 5 (US 5) in Rockingham in the east to US 7 in Clarendon near Rutland in the west. The Vermont Country Store's second bra ...

and

Vermont Route 121 Vermont Route 121 (VT 121) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Vermont. The highway runs from VT 11 in Londonderry east to U.S. Route 5 (US 5) in the incorporated village of Bellows Falls in the town of Rockingham. VT 12 ...

. The Bellows Falls train station was once served by three rail lines, and today it has

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

service on the ''Vermonter'' route, with two trains a day, one heading south to Washington, DC and one heading north to St. Albans, VT.

Demographics

The rural community, based on farming, had its peak of population in 1920. 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 5,309 people, 2,202 households, and 1,387 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 126.7 people per square mile (48.9/km²). There were 2,425 housing units at an average density of 57.9 per square mile (22.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.38%

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 ...

, 0.09% Native American, 0.55% Asian, 0.06%

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 ...

, 0.26% from other races, and 1.32% 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 1.15% of the population. There were 2,202 households, out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.2% 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 ...

, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% 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 2.96. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $33,423, and the median income for a family was $45,503. Males had a median income of $29,200 versus $22,944 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 $19,051. About 4.8% of families and 10.0% 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 13.5% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Listed on National Register of Historic Places

* Bartonsville Covered Bridge – across the Williams River at the southern end of Bartonsville (added August 2, 1973) * Worrall Covered Bridge – north of Rockingham across the Williams River (added August 16, 1973) * Hall Covered Bridge – West of Bellows Falls across the Saxtons River, off Vermont Route 121 (added August 28, 1973) *

Parker Hill Rural Historic District The Parker Hill Rural Historic District encompasses a large () rural agricultural landscape in eastern Windham and Windsor counties in the US state of Vermont. Roughly centered on Parker Hill Road in northern Rockingham and southern Spring ...

– Parker Hill and Lower Parker Hill Roads (added June 20, 1993) * Rockingham Meeting House – off

(added October 10, 1979) * Rockingham Village Historic District – Meeting House Rd., Rockingham Hill Rd. (added January 4, 2008) * Williams River Route 5 Bridge –

over the Williams River (added December 14, 1991) * Adams Gristmill Warehouse – Bridge St., Bellows Falls (added January 22, 1990) * Bellows Falls Co-operative Creamery Complex – Bridge St., Bellows Falls (added January 22, 1990) * Bellows Falls Petroglyph Site (VT-WD-8) – Bridge St., Bellows Falls (added January 22, 1990) * Bellows Falls Times Building – Bridge and Island streets, Bellows Falls (added January 22, 1990) *

Bellows Falls Downtown Historic District Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; th ...

– Depot, Canal, Rockingham, Bridge, Mill, and Westminster Sts. (added August 16, 1982) * Bellows Falls Neighborhood Historic District – Atkinson, Westminster, School, and Hapgood Sts., Hapgood Pl., and Burt St., Henry St., South St., Hadley St., and Temple Pl.; also Center, Front, Old Terrace, and Pine Sts., Bellows Falls (added January 17, 2002) * Gas Station at Bridge and Island Streets – (added January 22, 1990) * George-Pine-Henry Street Historic District – 5-22 George St.; 1-17 Pine St.; 32-44 Henry St., Bellows Falls (added July 13, 2010) *

Vermont Academy Campus Historic District Vermont Academy (VA) is a private school, private, co-educational, college preparatory, boarding school, boarding and day school in Saxtons River, Vermont, Saxtons River, Vermont, serving students from ninth through twelfth grade, as well as po ...

– 10 Long Walk, Saxtons River (added July 14, 2015) * Saxtons River Village Historic District – Roughly bounded by Burk Hill and Bellview Rds., Oak St., the

, and Westminster West Rd. (added September 29, 1988) * Miss Bellows Falls Diner – 90 Rockingham St., Bellows Falls (added February 15, 1983) * Moore and Thompson Paper Mill Complex – Bridge St., Bellows Falls (added March 16, 1984) * Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel – Off Pleasant St., Bellows Falls (added November 14, 1991) * William A. Hall House – 1 Hapgood St., Bellows Falls (added May 5, 1999) * Howard Hardware Storehouse – Bridge St., Bellows Falls (added January 22, 1990) * Robertson Paper Company Complex – Island St., Bellows Falls (added January 22, 1990) It was demolished in 2018–19 as a Brownfields Economic Revitalization Alliance (BERA) project. * Williams Street Extension Historic District – 51–58, 61–68, 70 Williams St., Bellows Falls (added July 13, 2010) * Westminster Terrace Historic District – Along Westminster Terrace, in Bellows Falls and Westminster (added July 13, 2010)

Locations

The following smaller unincorporated villages are within the town of Rockingham, in addition to its two larger, incorporated villages (Bellows Falls and Saxtons River): *Bartonsville, a hamlet with mills established by Jeremiah Barton about 1840, once a stop on the

Rutland Railroad The Rutland Railroad was a railroad in the northeastern United States, located primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York at both its northernmost and southernmost ends. After its closure in 1961, parts of the ...

*Brockways Mills, a mill site and former stop on the

Cambridgeport Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the Charles River, the Grand Junction Railroad, and River Street. The neighborhood contains predominantly residential homes, many of ...

, a hamlet with mills named after J.T. Campbridge, partially within the town of Grafton

Notable people

* John S. Barry, fourth

governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-ele ...

* Henry Adams Bellows, lawyer, state legislator and jurist * Jonathan Blanchard, pastor, social reformer, and president of Wheaton College *

Hetty Green Henrietta "Hetty" Howland Robinson Green (November 21, 1834 – July 3, 1916) was an American businesswoman and financier known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age. Those who knew her well referred to her admiringly as th ...

, businesswoman and financier * Hugh H. Henry, United States Marshal for Vermont * Daniel Kellogg,

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the District of Vermont and 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 ...

* George Bradley Kellogg, Adjutant General of the

Vermont National Guard The Vermont National Guard is composed of the Vermont Army National Guard and the Vermont Air National Guard. Together, they are collectively known as the Green Mountain Boys. Both units use the original Revolutionary War-era Flag of the Green Mo ...

, Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

* Selim Peabody, educator * Zera Pulsipher, religious leader * Shadrach Roundy, religious leader *

Henry Franklin Severens Henry Franklin Severens (May 11, 1835 – June 8, 1923) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit and previously was a United States d ...

, judge

References

External links

Town of Rockingham, Vermont

Rockingham Free Public Library
{{authority control 1752 establishments in New Hampshire Populated places established in 1752 Towns in Vermont Vermont populated places on the Connecticut River Towns in Windham County, Vermont Superfund sites in Vermont Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham