See also
- Rivendell Interstate School District, serving Orford, NH, Vershire, VT, West Fairlee, VT, and Fairlee, VT
- Union County–College Corner Joint School District, an earlier joint district formed in Indiana and Ohio without congressional approval
The Dresden School District is the first interstate school district in the United States. It operates the Francis C. Richmond Middle School and Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire. The district is part of the New Hampshire's School Administrative Unit (SAU) 70, [1] which also includes two other school districts, each with its own school board: the Hanover School District, which operates the Bernice A. Ray Elementary School in Hanover, and the Norwich School District, which operates the Marion Cross Elementary School in Norwich, Vermont.
Norwich, Vermont, and Hanover, New Hampshire, lie on opposite sides of the Connecticut River. Many Norwich residents were employed at Dartmouth College and the Mary Hitchcock Hospital in Hanover. Before 1964, Hanover had provided secondary education to Norwich students on a tuition basis, paid by the Norwich school district, which had no local high school. Growth in enrollment in Hanover High School necessitated new construction, which would have been easier to finance with contributions from Norwich. Norwich was unable by state law to contribute to Hanover's construction cost, and Hanover was unable by state law to give Norwich any voice in the operation of the schools. [2] [3] [4]
Several Dartmouth College faculty members on the Hanover and Norwich school boards (John G. Kemeny, later president of Dartmouth, in Hanover and Donald Kreider [5] and William Ballard in Norwich) sought to solve these problems by creating the Dresden School District. They secured consent from the towns of Hanover and Norwich, the legislatures of New Hampshire and Vermont, and the United States Congress (whose consent was required because the Compact Clause [Article I, Section 10, Clause 3] of the United States Constitution provides that "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress,... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State"). The congressional bill creating the district was one of the last John F. Kennedy signed before his assassination in 1963. [6]
The name Dresden was taken from the name of the corner of Hanover in which Dartmouth College was located in the 1770s. Between 1776 and 1784, citizens of Dresden sought to secede from the state of New Hampshire, either by joining with Norwich and other nearby towns in a new state called New Connecticut or by joining the state of Vermont. The dispute ended in 1784 when Vermont, under pressure from George Washington, rescinded its 1781 annexation of Dresden. [7]
Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, and Hanover High School. The Appalachian Trail crosses the town, connecting with a number of trails and nature preserves.
Norwich is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,612 at the 2020 census. Home to some of the state of Vermont's wealthiest residents, the municipality is a commuter town for nearby Hanover, New Hampshire across the Connecticut River. The town is part of the Dresden School District, the first interstate school district in the United States, signed into law by President John F. Kennedy. The town contains the Norwich Mid-Century Modern Historic District.
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,277. Its shire town is the town of Chelsea. Orange County was organized on February 2, 1781, as an original county within the state.
Grafton County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,118. Its county seat is the town of Haverhill. In 1972, the county courthouse and other offices were moved from Woodsville, a larger village within the town of Haverhill, to North Haverhill.
Lebanon is the only city in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,282 at the 2020 census, up from 13,151 at the 2010 census. Lebanon is in western New Hampshire, south of Hanover, near the Connecticut River. It is the home to Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth College's Geisel School of Medicine, together comprising the largest medical facility between Boston, Massachusetts, and Burlington, Vermont.
Fairlee is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 988 at the 2020 census. It includes the village of Ely. Fairlee is home to Lake Morey, which claims to have the longest ice skating trail in the United States.
White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2020 census, up from 2,286 in 2010, making it the largest community within the town of Hartford.
In the United States, an interstate compact is a pact or agreement between two or more states, or between states and any foreign government. The Compact Clause of the United States Constitution provides that "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress,... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power,..."
Lewiston is a former village in the town of Norwich, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. Settlers first arrived in that area in 1765; the village's namesake, Dr. Joseph Lewis, arrived two years later. From the late 19th century, the village was centered on a rail station that was used by both Norwich and the town directly across the Connecticut River, Hanover, New Hampshire.
The Dartmouth–Lake Sunapee area of the U.S. state of New Hampshire lies in the west-central portion of the state, along the Connecticut River Valley. It includes all of Sullivan County, and parts of Merrimack County and Grafton County. The region shares its name with Dartmouth College, a prestigious Ivy League institution, and Lake Sunapee, a popular tourist destination. Interstate 89 forms the main freeway connecting the region to other parts of New Hampshire, as well as to nearby Vermont. Lebanon, Hanover, and Claremont are the three most populous communities in the region.
New Hampshire Route 10 is a 122.25-mile-long (196.74 km) north–south state highway in western New Hampshire, United States. Its southern terminus is in Winchester at the Massachusetts state line, where it continues south as Massachusetts Route 10. Administratively, the northern terminus is at a junction with U.S. Route 302 in Haverhill.
Route 10A is a 1.070-mile-long (1.722 km) east-west highway connecting the towns of Norwich, Vermont and Hanover, New Hampshire. The route exists as Vermont Route 10A and New Hampshire Route 10A, with each designation carrying about half of the route's length. The route begins in Norwich at an interchange with Interstate 91 and U.S. Route 5 and runs east, crossing the state line and continuing into downtown Hanover, where it ends at New Hampshire Route 10.
Memorial Field is a football stadium located in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. It is the home of Dartmouth Big Green football and outdoor track teams. The athletic teams at Dartmouth College compete in the Ivy League.
The Ledyard Bridge crosses the Connecticut River to connect Hanover, New Hampshire to Norwich, Vermont. It is the third bridge at this crossing to bear the name of the adventurer John Ledyard.
Nathaniel Niles was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a United States representative from Vermont. He also wrote a famous poem about the Battle of Bunker Hill. Orated one of the first abolition sermons preached in the colonies.
White River Junction station is a passenger train station in White River Junction, Vermont, served by Amtrak's Vermonter. It is also used by the Green Mountain Railroad for passenger excursion trains to Thetford and the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont. Originally, it was built in 1937 as a union station that served the Boston and Maine Railroad and Central Vermont Railway. On display adjacent to the station is a sheltered display of Boston and Maine Railroad #494, a historic steam locomotive. The station's historic building is a contributing property in the White River Junction Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Dartmouth College is five miles to the north in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Peter Olcott was a Vermont public official and military officer who served as a brigadier general in the colonial militia, the sixth lieutenant governor of the Vermont Republic, and the first lieutenant governor of the state of Vermont.
Elisha Payne was a prominent businessman and political figure in the states of New Hampshire and Vermont following the events of the American Revolution. He is best known for serving as Lieutenant Governor of the Vermont Republic and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont.
Donald Lester Kreider was an American mathematician and educator who served as president of the Mathematical Association of America (1993–1994).
Rivendell Interstate School District is a school district headquartered in Orford, New Hampshire. In addition to Orford, its attendance zone includes the following places in Vermont: Fairlee, Vershire, and West Fairlee.