Wells River is a village in the town of Newbury in Orange 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 431 at the 2020 census. The village center is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 5 and 302. The village center (the portion near the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Wells River and 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 ...

) was added to 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 ...

in 1983 as Wells River Village Historic District. The district covers 84 contributing properties over an area of . It includes examples of Classical Revival, Federal, and Late Victorian styles. The architectural character of the district represents the building traditions of nineteenth-century Vermont, showcasing a wide array of building styles.

History

The area was first called Governor's Right because were granted to 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 ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. It was purchased by Er Chamberlin, who built a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

on the Wells River.Frederic P. Wells, ''History of Newbury, Vermont''; The Caledonian Company, St. Johnsbury, Vermont 1902
/ref> Located at the

head of navigation The head of navigation is the farthest point above the mouth of a river that can be navigated by ships. Determining the head of navigation can be subjective on many streams, as the point may vary greatly with the size or the draft of the ship b ...

for the

, Wells River developed as a center for

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

. Canal boats guided by long poles floated downriver laden with

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

clapboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of those terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'', in modern Am ...

s and

shingles Shingles, also known as herpes zoster or zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. T ...

, returning with goods such as

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

and

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

. In the 1830s and 1840s, Jacob Kent Jr. was the proprietor of the Coosuck House, a well-known Wells River hotel. On November 6, 1848, the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad opened to Wells River, rendering obsolete the river's barge traffic. In 1853–1854, the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad reached Woodsville, New Hampshire across the Connecticut River. It built division offices and repair facilities, transforming that village into a booming

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...

. The line replaced the 1805 bridge over the narrows to Wells River with a two-level wooden span which combined a toll highway deck at the bottom of the

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

, with railroad tracks on the roof. In 1903, a steel bridge of similar configuration replaced it. In 1873, the Montpelier and Wells River Railroad was completed, enhancing the region's position as a railroad junction.

Historic buildings

Some of the more significant historic structures in the village are: *Wells River Congregational Church, Main Street, 1839, 1869, 1894 * Wells River Graded School, Main Street, 1874 (listed separately on the National Register) *Mulliken-Davis Store, Main Street, *U.S. Post Office, 26 Main Street: () *Baldwin Memorial Library, Main Street, *G. Gould House, 7 Main Street, , *Baldwin-Simonds House, North end of Main Street, *Wells River Village Hall, Cross Street, 1908

Geography

The village takes its name from the Wells River, which flows into the

at the eastern edge of the village. 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 village has a total area of 2.0 square miles (5.1 km²), all of it land. Wells River is crossed by

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 ...

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 ...

, and U.S. Route 302, with Routes 5 and 302 briefly running concurrently, before Route 302 crosses the Connecticut River into New Hampshire.

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 325 people, 156 households, and 92 families residing in the village. 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 167.0 people per square mile (64.4/km²). There were 178 housing units at an average density of 91.5/sq mi (35.2/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.69%

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 0.31%

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 ...

. There were 156 households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% 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, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were non-families. 39.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.67. In the village, the population was spread out, with 23.1% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 23.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 77.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males. The median income for a household in the village was $28,021, and the median income for a family was $32,708. Males had a median income of $28,056 versus $21,250 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 village was $14,705. About 6.5% of families and 11.1% 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 6.1% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Jacob Kent Jr., hotel proprietor, public official who served as Orange County Sheriff and U.S. Marshal for Vermont * William A. Russell, U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts * Abel Underwood, Vermont prosecutor, legislator, and judge

References

External links

Baldwin Memorial Library

{{authority control Federal architecture in Vermont Neoclassical architecture in Vermont Incorporated villages in Vermont Wells River Vermont populated places on the Connecticut River Villages in Orange County, Vermont Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, Vermont Railway towns in Vermont