Orange County, Vermont

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

County Seat: Chelsea
Year Organized: 1781
Square Miles: 689

Court House:

5 Court Street
County Courthouse
Chelsea, VT 05038-9703

Etymology - Origin of County Name

For William of Orange, later William III of England.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts:

History

Jacob Bayley, a Revolutionary War general, helped settle the region, notably by founding Newbury in 1763 and by building the Bayley-Hazen Military Road in 1776–79. The county was formed in 1781 and named for William of Orange (William III of England). Randolph developed with the coming of the railroad in 1848. Tunbridge is the site of the century-old annual Tunbridge World’s Fair.

Chelsea, chief town. This county is bounded N. by Washington and Caledonia counties, E. by Connecticut river, S. by Windsor county, and W. by Addison and Washington counties. Area, 650 square miles. Population, 1820, 24,169; 1830, 27,285. Population to a square mile, 42. Incorporated, 1781. The eastern range of the Green mountains extends along the northwestern part of the county. The principal rivers, besides the Connecticut, are the Ompomponoosuc, Wait's, branches of the White, and Stevens' branch of the Onion. The lands in Orange county are generally good for grazing, and supply many cattle and all the varieties of the dairy, of which a large amount is annually sent to market. In 1837 there were 99,346 sheep within its limits. This county contains some excellent tracts of land on the banks of the Connecticut. Iron and lead ores, slate and granite, are abundant.

From Hayward's New England Gazetteer of 1839

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 692 square miles (1,792 km²), of which, 689 square miles (1,783 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (8 km²) of it (0.46%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Caledonia County, Vermont - northeast
Grafton County, New Hampshire - east
Windsor County, Vermont - southwest
Addison County, Vermont - west
Washington County, Vermont - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Bradford	town
- Braintree	town
- Brookfield	town
- Chelsea (County Seat)	town
- Corinth	town
- Fairlee	town
- Newbury	village	Incorporated Area
- Randolph	town
- Strafford	town
- Thetford	town
- Topsham	town
- Tunbridge	town
- Vershire	town
- Washington	town
- Wells River	village	Incorporated Area
- West Fairlee	town
- Williamstown	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

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