e-ReferenceDesk's College and 50 State Learning Resource Guide

Find Online Colleges

Find Campus Colleges

Vermont State...

Vermont

Choose a County

Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham, Windsor

Vermont Counties

Click Image to Enlarge

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.

Washington County, Vermont

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

County Seat: Montpelier
Year Organized: 1810
Square Miles: 690

Court House:

65 State Street
County Courthouse
Montpelier, VT 05602-3594

Etymology - Origin of County Name

For George Washington.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Washington County is one of several Vermont counties created from land ceded by the state of New York on January 15, 1777 when Vermont declared itself to be a distinct state from New York. The land originally was contested by Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Netherlands, but it remained undelineated until July 20, 1764 when King George III established the boundary between New Hampshire and New York along the west bank of the Connecticut River, north of Massachusetts and south of the parallel of 45 degrees north latitude. New York assigned the land gained to Albany County. On March 12, 1772 Albany County was partitioned to create Charlotte County, and this situation remained until Vermont's independence from New York and Britain.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 695 square miles (1,801 km²), of which, 689 square miles (1,785 km²) of it is land and 6 square miles (16 km²) of it (0.90%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Lamoille County, Vermont - north
Caledonia County, Vermont - northeast
Orange County, Vermont - southeast
Addison County, Vermont - southwest
Chittenden County, Vermont - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Barre	city	Incorporated Area
- Berlin	town
- Bolton	town
- Cabot	village	Incorporated Area
- Calais	town
- Duxbury	town
- East Montpelier	town
- Fayston	town
- Marshfield	village	Incorporated Area
- Middlesex	town
- Montpelier (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Moretown	town
- Northfield	village	Incorporated Area
- Orange	town
- Plainfield	town
- Waitsfield	town
- Warren	town
- Waterbury	village	Incorporated Area
- Woodbury	town
- Worcester	town

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."