Cavendish, Vermont

Cavendish, Vermont
Town
House in Cavendish
Location of Cavendish within Vermont
Coordinates: 43°23′11″N 72°36′45″W / 43.38639°N 72.61250°W / 43.38639; -72.61250Coordinates: 43°23′11″N 72°36′45″W / 43.38639°N 72.61250°W / 43.38639; -72.61250
Country	United States
State	Vermont
County	Windsor
Area
• Total	39.7 sq mi (102.8 km2)
• Land	39.5 sq mi (102.2 km2)
• Water	0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2)
Elevation	1,017 ft (310 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	1,367
• Density	34/sq mi (13/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	05142
Area code(s)	802
FIPS code	50-12250[1]
GNIS feature ID	1462066[2]

Cavendish is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The town was named after William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire.^[3] The population was 1,367 at the 2010 census.^[4] The town of Cavendish includes the unincorporated villages of Cavendish and Proctorsville.

History

Early settlers

Captain John Coffeen, the town's first permanent settler, brought his family and possessions into the wilderness of Cavendish in June 1769. They built a dwelling in the northern part of town on what is now E. I. Heald's farm, on the lot still called the "Coffeen pasture". The Coffeens remained the only family in Cavendish for two years. In the early 1780s, Leonard Proctor and Salmon Dutton came from Massachusetts and gave their names to the two major settlements on the Black River, Proctorsville and Duttonsville. In 1782, the first recorded town meeting occurred and Dutton was elected town clerk. He is credited with having conducted a 1784 survey for the first road from Duttonsville along the Black River to Ludlow (now Vermont routes 103 and 131). In 1786 he became the town's first justice of the peace. He also served as moderator of the town meeting, as selectman, and as town treasurer. The marriage of Redfield Proctor and Emily Dutton in 1858 joined the leading families of the two villages and promised to put an end to the former rivalry.^[5][6][7]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.7 square miles (102.8 km²), of which 39.5 square miles (102.2 km²) are land and 0.23 square miles (0.6 km²), or 0.59%, is water.^[8]

Cavendish was one of thirteen Vermont towns isolated by flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011.^[9]

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 1,470 people, 617 households, and 420 families residing in the town. The population density was 37.1 people per square mile (14.3/km²). There were 860 housing units at an average density of 21.7 per square mile (8.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.82% White, 0.07% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.82% Asian, 0.14% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.95% of the population.

There were 617 households out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.80.

In the town the population was spread out with 20.7% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $34,727, and the median income for a family was $41,591. Males had a median income of $30,223 versus $22,206 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,420. About 2.4% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• Phineas Gage, working near Cavendish in 1848, survived an accident in which a large iron rod was driven through his head
• John Martyn Harlow, physician; who attended Phineas Gage during his recovery
• Redfield Proctor, US senator, Secretary of War, and 37th governor of Vermont
• Colonel Thomas O. Seaver, Civil War era Medal of Honor recipient
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer and historian, Nobel prize winner

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Cavendish has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.^[10]

References

External links

• Cavendish Community & Conservation Association
• Information at VirtualVermont.com
• Cavendish Community Profile; with an old postcard

v t e Municipalities and communities of Windsor County, Vermont, United States Shire town: Woodstock Towns Andover Baltimore Barnard Bethel Bridgewater Cavendish Chester Hartford Hartland Ludlow Norwich Plymouth Pomfret Reading Rochester Royalton Sharon Springfield Stockbridge Weathersfield West Windsor Weston Windsor Woodstock Villages Ludlow Perkinsville Woodstock CDPs Ascutney Bethel Cavendish Chester Hartland North Hartland North Springfield Norwich Proctorsville Quechee Rochester South Royalton Springfield White River Junction Wilder Windsor Other communities Brownsville Hartford Lewiston Plymouth Notch South Woodstock Weathersfield Bow West Hartford