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Vermont Counties

There 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.

Rutland County, Vermont

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

County Seat: Rutland
Year Organized: 1781
Square Miles: 932

Court House:

83 Center Street
County Courthouse
Rutland, VT 05701-4017

Etymology - Origin of County Name

For Rutland, Massachusetts. The Town of Rutland is a residential hill town. Rutland's original lands of about 12 square miles were purchased from natives in Natick's Indian Praying Town in 1686.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

The original Rutland was chartered in 1761 as part of the New Hampshire Grants by the Provincial Governor Benning Wentworth. The first settlers arrived in 1770 led by Colonel James Mead. Almost immediately a controversy arose with New York claiming the same land grants under the name of “Socialborough.” This controversy ultimately led to the Vermonters forming the Republic of Vermont from 1777-1791. Vermont became the fourteenth state in 1791.

During the early 1800’s the Rutland area was known for agriculture and for the sheep industry. By the mid 1800’s the development of the marble industry and the arrival of the railroads created an industrial and retail boom which brought many immigrant workers to the Rutland area. Rutland has continued to grow in industry and population to become the largest city in Southern Vermont.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 945 square miles (2,447 km²), of which, 933 square miles (2,415 km²) of it is land and 12 square miles (32 km²) of it (1.30%) is water. The primary stream of the county is Otter Creek, which runs through the county from the south to the north.

Neighboring Counties:

Addison County, Vermont - north
Windsor County, Vermont - east
Bennington County, Vermont - south
Washington County, New York - west

Cities and Towns:

- Benson	town
- Brandon	town
- Burke	town
- Castleton	town
- Chittenden	town
- Clarendon	town
- Danby	town
- Fair Haven	town
- Goshen	town
- Hubbardton	town
- Ira	town
- Killington	town
- Leicester	town
- Mendon	town
- Middletown Springs	town
- Mount Holly	town
- Mount Tabor	town
- Pawlet	town
- Pittsfield	town
- Pittsford	town
- Poultney	village	Incorporated Area
- Proctor	town
- Rutland (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Shrewsbury	town
- Sudbury	town
- Tinmouth	town
- Wallingford	town
- Wells	town
- West Haven	town
- West Rutland	town

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

Online High Schools

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."

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