Orleans County, Vermont

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Orleans County, Vermont
Map
Map of Vermont highlighting Orleans County
Location in the state of Vermont
Map of the USA highlighting Vermont
Vermont's location in the USA
Statistics
Founded 1792
Seat Newport
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
1,868 km² (721 mi²)
1807 km² (698 mi²)
61 km² (23 mi²), 3.25%
Population
 - (2000)
 - Density
26,277
15/km² 

Orleans County is one of the four northernmost counties in the U.S. state of Vermont. It borders Canada. As of 2000, the population was 26,277. Its county seat is Newport6. Like the rest of New England, there is little county government. The county is an expedient way of grouping other governmental services.

Contents

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,868 km² (721 mi²). It is the fifth largest county in Vermont.


There are 37.7 persons per square mile. 1,807 km² (698 mi²) of it is land and 61 km² (23 mi²) of it (3.25%) is water.

The county lies between the eastern and western ranges of the Green Mountains.

It has the largest area of the three counties comprising the Northeast Kingdom.

The highest point in the county is Jay Peak in the town of Jay, at 3858 feet.

The county is drained by four river systems: the Barton, Black, Clyde and Missisquoi. The first three run north.[1] The last meanders west through Canada and the US.


In fact the county is unique in eastern Vermont for mostly draining north as a part of the St. Lawrence River Basin. All Vermont counties directly to the south (and east of the Green Mountains) drain into the Connecticut River, as does much of Essex county, to the east.


The Barton River drains Crystal Lake, runs north through Barton, Brownington, Coventry and drains through Newport into Lake Memphremagog.


The Black is about 30 miles in length. It rises in some ponds in Craftsbury, and passes through Albany, Irasburg, and Coventry. It reaches Lake Memphremagog at Salem.


The Clyde River has four hydroelectric dams before reaching Lake Memphremagog.

The county contains more ponds than any other in the State.[2]

[edit] Government

The Assistant, or "Side," Judges approve the budget for county expenses.

  • Assistant Judge - Robert Goodby
  • Assistant Judge - Benjamin Batchelder

The budget for 2006 was $428,612.51. Town taxes accounted for over 65% of this money. Almost 32% of the money was spent on courthouse personnel. Over 22% of the money was spent on the Sheriff Department's expenses.[3]

[edit] History

The county shares the same pre-Columbian history with the Northeast Kingdom.


Rogers' Rangers were forced to retreat through the county following their attack on Saint-Francis, Quebec in 1759. To confound their avenging pursuers, they split up on the east shore of Lake Memphremagog. One group followed the Clyde River. Another followed the Barton River south to the falls at the outlet of Crystal Lake where they were able to catch fish. From there, they continued south over the summit into the Passumpsic River Valley.[4]


In 1779 or 1780, General Moses Hazen constructed the Bayley-Hazen Military Road from Newbury, Vermont through Hardwick, Greensboro, Craftsbury, and Albany to Hazen's Notch in northern Vermont. This purpose of this road was to invade Canada. It was never used for that purpose, but was instrumental in the settlement of this area.[5]


From 1791 to 1793 Timothy Hinman built what is now called the "Hinman Settler Road" linking Greensboro north to Derby and Canada.[6]


In 1810 Runaway Pond suddenly flooded the Barton River Valley with millions of gallons water in the greatest natural catastrophe in Orleans County post-Columbian history. Incredibly, no lives were lost.


After increasing in population since its founding, the county began losing population starting in 1900. It reached a twentieth century low in population in 1960 at 20,143. The population has risen ever since.


In 1967 researcher and scientist Gerald Bull constructed a laboratory for hisSpace Research Corporation in Highwater, just north of the county's Canadian border. The property overlapped into the county in North Troy. His intent was to fire research packages into orbit using heavy artillery.

In 2004, the final concert of the band Phish was held in Coventry on August 14-15. The concert was the single largest gathering of people in the town's history. With 70,000 tickets sold, Coventry's augmented population was the largest in the state's history.

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Population

Of the four Vermont counties bordering Canada, Orleans County is the largest. That said, all four counties have the lowest population in Vermont.

As of the census² of 2000

  • People - 26,277
  • Households - 10,446
  • Families - 7,155
  • Population density - 15/km² (38/mi²)
  • Housing units - 14,673
  • Density of housing units - 8/km² (21/mi²)

The racial makeup of the county


94.5% were born in the United States. 90.58% spoke English at home, while 7.72% spoke French.[1]

[edit] Population Distribution by Age

In the county, the population was distributed by age as follows:

  • Under the age of 18 (18 year spread) - 25.10%
  • From 18 to 24 (7 year spread) - 7.10%
  • From 25 to 44 (20 year spread) - 26.80%
  • From 45 to 64 (20 year spread) - 25.90%
  • 65 years of age or older - 15.00%

The median age was 39 years.

For every 100 females there were 98.60 males.

For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.10 males.

[edit] Ancestry

  • French/French Canadian - 30%[7]
  • English - 17%
  • French Canadian - 12%
  • Irish - 11%
  • German - 5%
  • Scottish - 4%
  • Italian - 3%
  • Scotch-Irish - 2%
  • Polish - 2%
  • Canadian - 2%
  • American Indian - 2%
  • Swedish - 1%
  • Dutch - 1%
  • Welsh - 1%
  • Russian - 1%


[edit] Households and Housing

  • Households - 10,446
  • Children under the age of 18 living in household - 32.10%
  • married couples living together - 54.40%
  • Female householder with no husband present - 9.60%
  • Non-families - 31.50%
  • Individuals - 25.20%
  • Someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older - 10.90%
  • Average household size - 2.45
  • Average family size - 2.91
  • Owned their own homes - 74.1%
  • Lived in multi-unit dwellings - 14.9%
  • Average value of owner occupied homes - $78,800.

Orleans County has the least expensive rental housing in Vermont.[8]

[edit] Income

[edit] Median Incomes

  • Family = $36,630
  • Household = $31,084
  • Males = $27,964
  • Females = $20,779

[edit] Poverty Statistics

The following were below the poverty line

  • Under age 18 = 17.90%
  • Population = 14.10%
  • Age 65 or over = 10.90%
  • Families = 10.60%

The poverty rate for Orleans County was highest in Vermont for 2003.[9] Median wages were the second lowest in the state.[10]

See also Vermont locations by per capita income

[edit] Unemployment

In January 2007, the unemployment rate was 7.6% seasonally uncorrected, the highest in the state, which averaged 4.7%.[11]

[edit] Education

78.2% had at least a high school education. 16.1% had at least an undergraduate degree.

There are three high schools in the county: North Country Union High School (1063 students), Lake Region Union High School (396), and Craftsbury Academy (59).[12]

There are about 85 home schooled students in the county, grades 1-12.

[edit] Higher Education

Craftsbury Common is home to Sterling College, an accredited four year institution with nearly 100 students.[13]

The City of Newport is home to a branch of the Community College of Vermont which enrolls nearly 300 students.[14] It awards an Associate's Degree for these undergraduate studies.

[edit] Business Statistics

There were 838 Private non-farm establishments, employing 7,392 people. In 2002, there was $238 million Manufacturer's Shipments. That year, the county saw $240 million in retail sales. Retail sales per capita was $9,000. 24% of firms were owned by women.

In 2003, there were 194 dairy farms in the county.[15] This is the third largest number in the state.

For forest products, from 1988 to 2004, Orleans County showed the greatest employment increase in the state.[16]

[edit] Cities, towns, and villages

[17]

Most towns contract with the County Sheriff for policing.[18]

[edit] Media

[edit] Newspapers

[edit] Radio

  • W243AE - 96.5 FM; Orleans
  • WIKE - 1490 AM; 1 kW; Newport
  • WMOO - 92.1 FM; Derby Center

[edit] Television

  • W14CK - Channel 14; Newport
  • NEK-TV - Channels 14 and 15;[19] Northeast Kingdom Television, Newport.[20]

[edit] Utilities and Communication

[edit] Communication

Verizon Communications supplies hard line telephone coverage for the entire county.

[edit] Cell phones

Unicel works best in the county with good reception in the village of Barton and the city of Newport, among others.

Verizon Wireless covers western Newport city and the Derby-north I-91 area. Owl's Head in Canada may provide "roaming" service in the North part of the county including the eastern side of the city of Newport. Better coverage is planned but is being successfully blocked in the courts by environmentalists.

[edit] Broadband

  • Broadband coverage as of 2006[21]
    • Total Coverage = 86%[22]
    • Cable = 52%
    • DSL = 44%
    • Wireless Internet Service Provider = 69%

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Major Routes

[edit] Local community public and private transportation

The RCT (Rural Community Transportation) runs out of Saint Johnsbury and services Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille and Orleans Counties.

[edit] Railroads

Washington County Railroad (The Vermont Railway System) - WACR has just recently been awarded a 30 year contract to operate the track running from White River Junction North through St. Johnsbury and Newport. Users ship freight on this route.

[edit] Airport

The county is served by the Newport State Airport. It contains two runways of 4000 feet each 05-23, and 18-36.

[edit] Notable Residents

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Author Howard Mosher has written a number of books about the area including Where the Rivers Flow North.
  2. ^ Gazetteer of Vermont by John Hayward, 1849
  3. ^ 2006 Financial Report of Orleans County General Fund, The Chronicle, March 7, 2007, page 26
  4. ^ Darrell Hoyt (1985). Sketches of Orleans, Vermont. Mempremagog Press. ISBN 0-9610860-2-5. , page 1
  5. ^ RootsWeb. The Hazen Military Road. Retrieved on 2007-01-03.
  6. ^ Vermont History. The Checkered Career of Timothy Hinman. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
  7. ^ http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genealogyInfo.php?locIndex=22868
  8. ^ [http://www.vhcb.org/pdfs/housing-wages-2004.pdf Vermont Housing & Conservation Board]. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Housing and Wages in Vermont. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
  9. ^ Rural Policy and Research Institute. Demographic and Economic Profile - Vermont. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
  10. ^ Vermont Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Vermont Statewide Trends. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
  11. ^ Jobless rate sees sharp increase,The Chronicle, March 7, 2007, page 34
  12. ^ http://www.nvda.net/pdf/regionalplan/Volume%20II%20-%20Chapter%203%20-%20Utilities%20&%20Facilities.pdf
  13. ^ [http://www.sterlingcollege.edu/index.html
  14. ^ http://www.ccv.edu/about/facts/index.html
  15. ^ http://www.vermontdairy.com/files/downloads/vermont-dairy-stats.xls
  16. ^ Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. Forest and Forest Products Trends. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
  17. ^ While incorporated villages may be separate census divisions, they are still part of the towns they are in
  18. ^ various articles,The Chronicle,March 7, 2007
  19. ^ http://www.nektv.com/contact.htm
  20. ^ http://www.vermontaccess.net/roster
  21. ^ Rural Vt. wants it's broadband,Burlington Free Press,February 8, 2007, page 1A
  22. ^ Statewide average is 87%

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • RootsWeb. Child's 1887 Gazetteer Orleans County Vermont. Retrieved on 2006-12-27., historical excerpt


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