For the village, see Barton (village), Vermont.

Barton, Vermont
Located in Orleans County, Vermont
Location of Vermont with the U.S.A.
Coordinates: 44°45′49″N 72°11′12″W / 44.76361, -72.18667
Country	United States
State	Vermont
County	Orleans
Chartered	October 20, 1789
Area
- Total	44.9 sq mi (116.3 km²)
- Land	43.7 sq mi (113.1 km²)
- Water	1.3 sq mi (3.3 km²)
Elevation	931 ft (353 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	2,780
- Density	63.7/sq mi (24.6/km²)
- Households	1,153
- Families	748
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	05822, 05839, 05875
Area code(s)	802
FIPS code	50-03550[1]
GNIS feature ID	1462037[2]

Barton is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,780 at the 2000 census. The town includes two incorporated villages, Barton and Orleans. There are only four other towns in the state containing two incorporated villages.^[3]

Government

Town

• Moderator - William May^[4]
• Selectman - Rupert Chamberlin
• Selectman - Robert Croteau
• Selectmen - Daniel McMaster
• Town Clerk - Grace Mason
• Selectman's Budget - $310,100
• Highway Budget - $441,900

Legislature

The Essex-Orleans District includes all of Essex County, all of Orleans County, the Franklin County towns of Montgomery and Richford, and the Lamoille County towns of Eden and Wolcott. Senators are Vincent Illuzzi, Republican and Robert A. Starr, Democrat.

The Orleans-Caledonia-1 District includes all of the Orleans County towns of Albany, Barton, Craftsbury, Glover, and Greensboro, and the Caledonia County towns of Sheffield and Wheelock. Representatives are: John Morley, Republican and John S. Rodgers, Democrat.

Education

The town is a key member of the Orleans Central Supervisory Union. Spending per pupil in 2007 was $10,364, slightly below the state average of $11,095.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 44.9 square miles (116.3 km²), of which, 43.7 square miles (113.1 km²) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.3 km²) of it (2.81%) is water. Barton averages 931 feet above sea level (ASL).

The principal rock is calciferous mica schist. About two miles from the Irasburg line, and parallel with it, there is a narrow vein of hornblende schist the whole length of the town. In the eastern corner, covering an area of several square miles, the rocks are a mixture of granite, syenite, and protogine.^[5] Iron has been found in small quantities, and some traces of gold.^[6]

The highest peak in Barton is Barton Mountain - 2235 feet ASL. May Hill is 2007 feet high.

Barton rivers include the Barton, Clyde, Willoughby, and Black Rivers; Hogtrough Brook, Lord Brook, Annis Brook, May Pond Brook, Willoughby Brook, and Roaring Brook.

Each spring the rainbow trout swim up the Willoughby River to Lake Willoughby.

Crystal Lake State Park is located in Barton.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 2,780 people, 1,153 households, and 748 families residing in the town, as follows:

• Outside of Villages - 43%
• Orleans Village - 30%
• Barton Village - 27%

The population density was 63.7/sq mi(24.6/km²).

There were 1,438 housing units at an average density of 32.9/sq mi (12.7/km²).

The racial makeup of the town was:

• White - 97.37%
• From two or more races - 1.65%
• Native American - 0.40%
• Black or African American - 0.32%
• Hispanic or Latino of any race - 0.29%
• Asian - 0.18%
• From other races - 0.07%

There were 1,153 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.6% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the town the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

Economy

Personal Income

The median income for a household in the town was $28,797, and the median income for a family was $33,872. Males had a median income of $25,922 versus $20,938 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,636. About 12.2% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over.

Industry

Ethan Allen Manufacturing, in the village of Orleans, employees about 400 workers locally.^[7]

Utilities and Communication

Cellphone

Barton receives Unicel (TDMA and GSM)

Electricity

The Barton side of Barton town is serviced by Barton Electric which generates some of its power hydroelectrically. It services 2100 customers.^[8][9]

The Orleans side of Barton town is serviced by The Village of Orleans Electric with 665 customers.^[10][11]

Transportation

Major Routes

The opening of the Interstate north on November 9, 1972 and opening south in 1978 had an impact on the town comparable to the opening of the railway a century earlier. In 1980, Barton registered its first population gain in a century.^[3]

Barton has 78.37 miles of state road and class 1, 2 and 3 roads. 44.38 are class 3 (dirt) roads. 21.43 are state roads.^[12]

• Interstate 91 - Barton to Derby
• U.S. Route 5 - Barton to Derby
• Vermont Route 16 - Barton to Westmore east and north, to Glover south
• Vermont Route 58 - Barton to Lowell west and Barton to Westmore east

Local community public and private transportation

Vermont Transit bus company services Barton.^[13]

Railroads

While the Washington County Railroad (The Vermont Railway System) runs through Barton, it does not service the town.

History

Rogers' Rangers were forced to retreat through the area following their attack on Saint-Francis, Quebec in 1759. The fleeing rangers split up before getting to Barton. One group 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.^[14]

Barton was chartered on October 20, 1789.^[15]. The grant was to sixty Revolutionary War soldiers, mainly from Rhode Island and including Admiral John Paul Jones, General William Barton, and Ira Allen.^[6]

From 1791 to 1793 Timothy Hinman built what is now called the "Hinman Settler Road" linking Barton south to Greensboro and north through Brownington to Derby and Canada.^[16]

The early settlers of Barton found Indian wigwams, in a decayed condition, quite numerous in the vicinity of the outlet of Barton pond (sic), from which it was inferred that it was a favorite camping ground. It is stated that an Indian, Foosah, claimed he killed twenty-seven moose, beside large numbers of beaver and otter near this pond in the winter of 1783-84.^[6]

On June 6, 1810, the body of water known today as Runaway Pond flooded the Barton River Valley resulting in destruction, the results of which can still be seen today.

Railroad construction reached Barton in 1858.^[17] The first train arrived in 1863.^[18]

As each new railroad terminus was built, the stagecoaches used them as terminuses as well. The stage ran north from Barton from what is now the junction of State Road 58 and US 5, north to unite with the Hinman Settler Road which came out of Glover and ran up Barton Hill over what is now Maple Hill Road then straight over to what is now the Orleans Country Club and from there to Brownington.

Around 1900, a granite quarry was located on the east side of Crystal Lake. Steamboats barged stone across the lake.

Increasing steadlly, Barton's population reached a peak of 3,506 people in 1920.

The Portland Pipeline company built a crude oil pipeline to Montreal from Portland, Maine in 1941 to avoid u-boat attacks when shipping by sea during WWII. In 2005, the portion of the line that passes through Barton town was evaluated and taxed at $2,277,000.^{[3] [19]}

In 1967, the school districts turned over their inadequately sized high schools, Barton Academy and Orleans High School to elementary school use and replaced them with Lake Region Union High School.

South Barton

The unincorporated village of South Barton, sometimes called Kimball Station no longer exists today. It was located near the Wheeler Mountain Road south of Crystal Lake on what is today, Route 5.

In 1858, Barton (and Orleans County) obtained a triangular piece of land from Sheffield which included all of May Pond, the entire area south of Crystal Lake, and the village of South Barton.^[3]

In 1861, the village of South Barton had its own post office, and, in 1874, its own railroad depot.^[3]

Its main industry was logging. The village foundered on lack of electric power which the other two villages in town had aggressively pursued. It tried to make up for this with steam power, but by the early 1940s the village was no longer viable. Its post office closed in 1947.

Three businesses operating serially with much of the same plant were the Orleans and Caledonia Steam Mill Company, Willoughby Wood and Lumber Company and US Bobbin and Shuttle Company. Eventually the location of the latter company to New York state finalized the village's demise.^[3]

Media

• The Chronicle - published weekly in Barton
• The Orleans County Monitor was published here from January 8,1872 to 1953 as a weekly newspaper.^[20].^[3]
• Radio station WJPK - 101.3 FM, 100 watts^[21]

Culture

Barton village contains three areas on the National Register of Historic Places.

Barton is home to the Orleans County Fair held each August at the Fairgrounds since 1868.^[22]

Notable residents

• Frederick W. Baldwin, practiced law with William Grout; president pro temporare, state senate 1900^[3]
• Colonel William Barton, Revolutionary War hero and founder of the town.
• Ida Miles Cutler, Vermont state president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union 1929-1932^[3]
• Lee E. Emerson, 69th Governor of the State of Vermont
• Wallace Harry Gilpin - owned the Orleans County Monitor 1904-1953^[3]
• Josiah Grout, Governor 1896-1898. Studied law under his brother William, briefly in 1865 until he was admitted to the bar that same year.
• Emory Hebard, as a resident of Barton was elected state Treasurer 1976-1988^[3]
• William Wallace Grout, practiced law in Barton; lieutenant colonel of the Fifteenth Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry, in the Union Army during the Civil War; US Congressional Representative, 3rd District 1881-83, 2nd District 1885-1901^[23]
• Henry M. Leland, machinist, inventor, engineer and automotive entrepreneur. Created and named both the original Cadillac and the original Lincoln. At one time he was President or Chief Executive of both divisions or companies.
• Orrin Wiley Locke, state senator from Orleans county 1923-?
• William Westbery Miles, practiced law with William Grout; Associate Judge of the Supreme Court 1905; Chief Judge Superior Court, 1906-?^[24]
• Major General Francis W. Nye, commander of the Defence Atomic Support Agency, Sandia, New Mexico

See also

Conversion of St. Paul Church (Vermont)

References

External links

• Orleans County Fair
• Barton Weather
• Historical weather
• Barton, Vermont is at coordinates 44°45′08″N 72°10′15″W / 44.75222, -72.17083 (Barton, Vermont)Coordinates: 44°45′08″N 72°10′15″W / 44.75222, -72.17083 (Barton, Vermont)

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Municipalities and communities of Orleans County, Vermont Shire town: Newport City Newport Towns Albany | Barton | Brownington | Charleston | Coventry | Craftsbury | Derby | Glover | Greensboro | Holland | Irasburg | Jay | Lowell | Morgan | Newport | Troy | Westfield | Westmore Villages Albany | Barton | Derby Center | Derby Line | North Troy | Orleans Unincorporated community Beebe Plain