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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. |
Chittenden County, VermontChittenden County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
Etymology - Origin of County NameFor Thomas Chittenden. Chittenden was born in East Guilford, Connecticut and moved to Vermont in 1774, where he founded the town of Williston. During the American Revolution, Chittenden was a member of a committee empowered to negotiate with the Continental Congress to allow Vermont to join the Union. Demographics:County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts County HistoryThe county of Chittenden was incorporated by act of the legislature of Vermont, Oct. 22, 1787. It is bounded on the north by the counties of Grand Isle, Franklin, and Lamoille; south by the county of Addison; east by Lamoille and Wasington; and west by the west line of the state, and the southerly part of the county of Grand Isle. The county is eroneously said to be bounded "on the west by Lake Champlain." By statute [see Revised Statutes of Vermont, 1839], the western boundary includes "so much of Lake Champlain as lies in this state west of the towns in said county adjoining the lake, and not included within the limits of Grand Isle." The border towns, by their charters, were bounded "on the west by the lake;" and it seems that the legislature did not consider that they extended, by legal construction, to the west line of the state--which passes along its main or deepest channel. GeographyAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 620 square miles (1,605 kmē), of which, 539
square miles (1,396 kmē) of it is land and 81 square miles (209 kmē) of it (13.01%) is water. 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." |
