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Vermont Counties
 Click Image to Enlarge Vermont CountiesThere are fourteen counties in Vermont. Each county has a county seat, known in Vermont as shire town. In 1777, Vermont had two counties. The western side of the state was called Bennington County and the eastern was called Cumberland County. In 1781 Cumberland County was broken up into three counties in Vermont, plus Washington County, which eventually became part of New Hampshire. Today's Washington County was known as Jefferson County until 1814. Essex County, Orleans County, and Caledonia County are commonly referred to as the Northeast Kingdom. |
Bennington County, VermontBennington County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
Etymology - Origin of County NameFor the city of Bennington, which was named for Benning Wentworth, governor of the New Hampshire Grants. Demographics:County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts County HistoryEstablished 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. GeographyAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 678 square miles (1,755 kmē), of which, 676 square miles (1,752 kmē) of it is land and 1 square miles (4 kmē) 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:
Cities and Towns:
County Resources:Enter County Resources and Information Here |
County Resources
The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define
the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local.
And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions,
reflects the "characteristic features of this 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." |
