Village (Vermont)
In the U.S. state of Vermont, villages are named communities located within the boundaries of an incorporated town. Villages may be incorporated or unincorporated.
An incorporated village is a defined area within a town that was either granted a village charter by a special act of the legislature, or organized under the general law. Village governments are subordinate to the government of the town they belong to. A village is a clearly defined municipality and provides some municipal services, such as potable water, sewage, police and fire services, garbage collection, street lighting and maintenance, management of cemeteries, and building code enforcement. Other municipal services not provided by the village are provided by the parent town. Incorporated villages in Vermont are administratively similar to villages in New York. Vermont is the only state in New England that has incorporated villages.
Village government
Village officers include a clerk, five bailiffs/trustees, a treasurer, and a tax collector. The trustees have duties and powers similar to the selectmen of towns.
List of incorporated villages
As of 2011, there were 35 incorporated villages with active governments in Vermont. Historically, there were more but most have since disincorporated, while a few were chartered as cities. Below is a list of incorporated villages that have existed, ordered by date of incorporation. Currently existing villages are indicated in boldface.
Village | Parent town | Date incorporated | Current status |
---|---|---|---|
Middlebury | Middlebury | 1816/1832 | disincorporated 1955/1966 |
Montpelier | Montpelier | 1818 | chartered as city in 1894 |
Brattleboro | Brattleboro | 1832 | disincorporated 1927 |
Windsor | Windsor | 1832 | disincorporated 1967 |
Bellows Falls | Rockingham | 1833 | incorporated village |
Springfield Center | Springfield | 1835 | disincorporated ? |
Woodstock | Woodstock | 1836 | incorporated village |
Rutland | Rutland | 1847 | chartered as city in 1892 |
Castleton | Castleton | 1849 | Incorporation rejected by voters |
Bennington | Bennington | 1849 | disincorporated 1967/1970 |
St. Johnsbury | St. Johnsbury | 1852 | disincorporated 1965 |
West Poultney | Poultney | 1852 | Incorporation rejected by voters |
Northfield | Northfield | 1855 | incorporated village |
Wilmington | Wilmington | 1855 | disincorporated 1959/1965 |
St. Albans | St. Albans | 1859 | chartered as city in 1896 |
Newport | Newport | 1862 | chartered as city in 1917 |
Fair Haven | Fair Haven | 1865 | disincorporated 1955 |
Cabot | Cabot | 1866 | disincorporated 2010 |
North Bennington | Bennington | 1866 | incorporated village |
Winooski | Colchester | 1866 | chartered as city in 1921 |
Ludlow | Ludlow | 1866 | incorporated village |
Springfield | Springfield | 1866 | disincorporated 1947 |
Plainfield | Plainfield | 1867 | disincorporated 1984 |
Benson | Benson | 1869 | Incorporation rejected by voters |
Danby | Danby | 1874 | Incorporation rejected by voters |
Barton | Barton | 1874 | incorporated village |
North Troy | Troy | 1876 | incorporated village |
Richford | Richford | 1878 | disincorporated 1998 |
Orleans | Barton | 1878 | incorporated village |
Randolph | Randolph | 1880 | disincorporated 1984 |
Lyndonville | Lyndon | 1880 | incorporated village |
Waterbury | Waterbury | 1882 | incorporated village |
Proctor | Proctor | 1884 | disincorporated 1967 |
Barre | Barre | 1886 | chartered as city in 1894 |
Enosburg Falls | Enosburgh | 1886 | incorporated village |
Bristol | Bristol | 1886/1903 | disincorporated 1994 |
Brandon | Brandon | 1888 | disincorporated ? |
Wells River | Newbury | 1888 | incorporated village |
Swanton | Swanton | 1888 | incorporated village |
Bradford | Bradford | 1890 | disincorporated 2004 |
Morrisville | Morristown | 1890 | incorporated village |
Hardwick | Hardwick | 1890 | disincorporated 1988 |
Readsboro | Readsboro | 1892 | disincorporated 1986 |
Essex Junction | Essex | 1892 | incorporated village |
Johnson | Johnson | 1894 | incorporated village |
West Derby | Derby | 1894 | consolidated with Newport 1917 |
Hyde Park | Hyde Park | 1895 | incorporated village |
Stowe | Stowe | 1895 | disincorporated 1996 |
Lyndon Center | Lyndon | 1896 | disincorporated ? |
Jeffersonville | Cambridge | 1896 | incorporated village |
Newbury | Newbury | 1896/1904 | incorporated village |
Derby Center | Derby | 1898 | incorporated village |
Derby Line | Derby | 1898 | incorporated village |
Hinesburg | Hinesburg | 1898 | Incorporation rejected by voters |
Lyndon | Lyndon | 1899/1917 | disincorporated 1951 |
Island Pond | Brighton | 1900 | Incorporation rejected by voters |
Milton | Milton | 1900 | disincorporated 2003 |
Manchester | Manchester | 1900 | incorporated village |
Old Bennington | Bennington | 1900 | incorporated village |
Richmond | Richmond | 1903 | disincorporated 1989 |
West Concord | Concord | 1902 | Incorporation rejected by voters |
West Burke | Burke | 1902 | incorporated village |
Chester | Chester | 1900/1906 | disincorporated 1967 |
Concord | Concord | 1904 | disincorporated 1969 |
Cambridge | Cambridge | 1904 | incorporated village |
Glover | Glover | 1905 | disincorporated 1973 |
Jacksonville | Whitingham | 1904 | incorporated village |
Poultney | Poultney | 1904 | incorporated village |
Saxtons River | Rockingham | 1905 | incorporated village |
Groton | Groton | 1907 | inactive since 1965 |
Newfane | Newfane | 1906 | incorporated village |
Proctorsville | Cavendish | 1907 | disincorporated 1987 |
Westminster | Westminster | 1907 | incorporated village |
South Royalton | Royalton | 1908 | disincorporated ? |
Halifax | Halifax | 1908 | Incorporation rejected by voters |
Newport Center | Newport | 1908 | disincorporated 1931 |
South Ryegate | Ryegate | 1908 | disincorporated ? |
West Glover | Glover | 1910 | disincorporated 1973 |
Marshfield | Marshfield | 1910 | incorporated village |
Pittsford | Pittsford | 1912 | disincorporated 1988 |
Albany | Albany | 1915 | incorporated village |
South Shaftsbury | Shaftsbury | 1915 | Incorporation rejected by voters |
Alburgh | Alburgh | 1916 | incorporated village |
Townshend | Townshend | 1916 | inactive since 1961 |
West Barnet | Barnet | 1922 | disincorporated 1961 |
North Westminster | Westminster | 1925 | disincorporated 2010 |
Perkinsville | Weathersfield | 1928 | incorporated village |
Jericho | Jericho | 1933 | incorporated village |
Essex Center | Essex | 1949 | disincorporated 1977 |
References
- E.T. Howe, "Vermont Incorporated Villages: A Vanishing Institution", Vermont History 73, 16 (2005).
- "Continuing Issues:Villages and cities". Vermont State Archives. Vermont Secretary of State. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- D.G. Sanford, Vermont Municipalities: an index to their charters and special acts, (Vermont Office of Secretary of State, 1986).
- J.S. Garland, New England town law: a digest of statutes and decisions concerning towns and town officers, (Boston Book Co., Boston, 1906).
- Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh edition (1911), accessed through 1911encyclopedia.org.
- Vermont Statutes Online, Title 24 and 24 Appendix
- U.S. Census Bureau, Census of population, data for 1930–2000.