Bennington County, Vermont

Bennington County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Bennington
Year Organized: 1779
Square Miles: 676

Court House:

207 South Street
County Courthouse
Bennington, VT 05201-2247

Etymology - Origin of County Name

For the city of Bennington, which was named for Benning Wentworth, governor of the New Hampshire Grants.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Established on February 11, 1779 as an original county. County Seat: Bennington. Its has the unusual distinction of having two shire towns (sometimes called county seats). Bennington is known as the South Shire & Manchester is the North Shire

Bennington County is a county in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of 2000, the population was 36,994. Its has the unusual distinction of having two shire towns (sometimes called county seats). Bennington is known as the South Shire & Manchester is the North Shire.

In 1749, New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth chartered the first town in the territory now known as Vermont, and named it Bennington, in honor of himself. The town's original settlement was formed in the area known today as Old Bennington in 1761 by Congregational Separatists from Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The independent spirit of these early settlers was reflected in their overt resistance to land claims from New York colony and eventually led to the formation of a local citizen militia headed by Ethan Allen, which came to be known as the Green Mountain Boys. This militia later played a crucial role at the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777. That battle was a prelude to the surrender of British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga, which led directly to the success of the Revolution.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 678 square miles (1,755 km²), of which, 676 square miles (1,752 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.21%) is water.

A county forming the S.W. extremity of Vermont, has an area of about 700 square miles. It is drained by the headwaters of Battenkill, Hoosick, andDeerfield rivers, and other small streams, which furnish abundant water-power. Although some good land is found within the limits of this county, a greater part of the surface is mountainous and unfitted for cultivation. (Bennington, VT .......from the 1854 U.S. Gazetteer)

Neighboring Counties:

Rutland County, Vermont - north
Windsor County, Vermont - northeast
Windham County, Vermont - east
Franklin County, Massachusetts - southeast
Berkshire County, Massachusetts - southwest
Rensselaer County, New York - southwest
Washington County, New York - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Arlington	town
- Bennington (County Seat)	town
- Dorset	town
- Glastenbury	town
- Manchester	village	Incorporated Area
- North Bennington	village	Incorporated Area
- Old Bennington	village	Incorporated Area
- Peru	town
- Pownal	town
- Readsboro	town
- Rupert	town
- Sandgate	town
- Shaftsbury	town
- Stamford	town
- Sunderland	town
- Winhall	town
- Woodford	town

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

Custom Search