Guilford, Vermont

Guilford, Vermont
Town
Christ Church, built in 1817 (2013)
Guilford, Vermont
Guilford, Vermont Location in the United States
Coordinates: 42°45′59″N72°37′35″W / 42.76639°N 72.62639°W / 42.76639; -72.62639
Country	United States
State	Vermont
County	Windham
Communities	Algiers Green River Guilford Center West Guilford
Area
• Total	40.0 sq mi (103.5 km2)
• Land	39.9 sq mi (103.3 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	791 ft (241 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,120
• Density	53/sq mi (20.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	05301
Area code	802
FIPS code	50-30925 [1]
GNIS feature ID	1462112 [2]
Website	guilfordvt.org

Guilford is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford. ^[3] The population was 2,120 at the 2020 census. ^[4]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.0 square miles (104 km²), of which 39.9 square miles (103 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (0.20%) is water.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	2,432		—
1800	2,256		−7.2%
1810	1,872		−17.0%
1820	1,862		−0.5%
1830	1,760		−5.5%
1840	1,525		−13.4%
1850	1,389		−8.9%
1860	1,291		−7.1%
1870	1,277		−1.1%
1880	1,096		−14.2%
1890	870		−20.6%
1900	782		−10.1%
1910	769		−1.7%
1920	684		−11.1%
1930	663		−3.1%
1940	686		3.5%
1950	796		16.0%
1960	823		3.4%
1970	1,108		34.6%
1980	1,532		38.3%
1990	1,941		26.7%
2000	2,046		5.4%
2010	2,121		3.7%
2020	2,120		0.0%
U.S. Decennial Census [5]

As of the census ^[6] of 2010, there were 2,121 people, 902 households, and 574 families residing in the town. The population density was 53.2 people per square mile (20.5 people/km²). There were 1,038 housing units at an average density of 26.0 per square mile (10.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.2% White, 0.5% African American, 0.0% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population.

There were 902 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were husbands and wives living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present. 36.4% of all households were non-families, and 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.2% 19 years old or younger, 3.9% from 20 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 37.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $57,674, and the median income for a family was $77,431. ^[7] Full-time working males had a median income of $42,250 versus $31,725 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,612. About 2.9% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.2% of those under the age of 18 and 2.5% of those 65 and older.

Guilford Country Store, built in 1817 as Broad Brook House

A covered bridge in Guilford

Historical timeline

• 1732– Chartered as Gallup's Canada, Massachusetts
• 1754– Chartered as Guilford, New Hampshire
• 1758– Chartered as Guilford, New York
• 1760 or 1761– First settler arrives, either Lucy Terry (1760) or Michah Rice (1761) ^[8]
• 1782– First house and barn built in Guilford burn down
• 1791– Chartered as Guilford, Vermont
• 1791-1820– Guilford is most populous town in Vermont
• 1816– First Episcopal church in Vermont built in Guilford, Christ Church
• 1817– Broad Brook House built, now houses the Guilford Country Store
• 1820– East Guilford Cotton Mill on Bee Barn Road burns down
• 1822– First Guilford Town Hall built on Guilford Center Road in Guilford Center, now historical museum
• 1837– Universalist church built in Guilford Center
• 1855– Algiers (East Guilford) schoolhouse burns down
• 1884– Broad Brook Grange Hall #151 built in Guilford Center
• 1885– Green River Paper Mill burns down
• 1889– East Guilford Grist Mill, first mill built in Guilford, burns down
• 1900– Post offices close after establishment of RFD 3
• 1934– Barn burns down on Yeaw Road, killing two young girls
• 1948– Guilford Recreation Club organized
• 1949– Broad Brook Fire Control organized
• 1949– Broad Brook Fire Control becomes Guilford Volunteer Fire Department
• 1954– First firehouse built in Algiers on Guilford Center Road
• 1957– Guilford Central School built, all old schoolhouses closed
• 1970– House burns down on Johnson Pasture Drive, killing four people
• 1972– Guilford Town Hall built on School Road
• 2005– New firehouse built on Guilford Center Road in Algiers
• 2007– Town constable given police cruiser, a step toward a town Police Department
• 2007– First full-time firefighter in Guilford

Notable people

• Benjamin Carpenter, Lieutenant Governor, buried in West Guilford's Carpenter Cemetery ^{[9] [10] [11]}
• James Elliot, author and United States Representative from Vermont ^[12]
• Halbert S. Greenleaf, former US Congressman from New York ^[13]
• Christopher Hitchens, writer, was Olivia Wilde's babysitter for a time ^[14]
• Jonathan Hunt, former Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and early landowner in Guilford ^[15]
• Charles E. Phelps, US Army brigadier general; Medal of Honor recipient; US congressman for Maryland ^[16]
• John W. Phelps, brigadier general in the American Civil War and abolitionist ^[17]
• Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist ^[18]
• John Shepardson, one of the first white settlers of Guilford. Soldier in the American Revolution, justice of the Vermont Supreme Court ^[19]
• Lucy Terry, African-American poet ^[20]
• Royall Tyler, playwright ^[21]
• Olivia Wilde, actress. ^[22]

References

1. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
2. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
3. "Profile for Guilford, Vermont". ePodunk. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
4. "Census - Geography Profile: Guilford town, Windham County, Vermont" . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
5. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
6. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved May 14, 2011.
7. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
8. Vincent Carretta notes that Lucy Terry, who is credited as being the first woman African-American poet, moved to Guilford in 1760, raising six children in the town, contrary to reports that one Micah Rice was the town's first settler, as Rice did not arrive in Guilford until 1761. Caretta, Vincent (2001). Vincent Caretta (ed.). Lucy Terry Prince (c.1730-1821). New York: Penguin. p. 199. ISBN   9780140424300.
9. Thompson, Zadock (1842). History of Vermont: Natural, Civil, and Statistical. p.  83. History of Vermont: Natural, Civil, and Statistical, by Zadock Thompson.
10. Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont. Vol. 1. Montpelier: E. P. Walton. 1873. pp. 117–118.
11. Bridgman, Thomas (1850). Inscriptions on the Grave Stones in the Grave Yards of Northampton and of the Other Town in the Valley of the Connecticut. Heritage Books. p. 195. ISBN   9780788405907.
12. "ELLIOT, James, (1775 - 1839)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
13. "GREENLEAF, Halbert Stevens, (1827 - 1906)". Biographical Directory of the United StatesCongress. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
14. Christopher Hitchens (February 23, 2010). "Fashion Spotlight: Olivia Wilde". Elle . Retrieved May 1, 2014.
15. Jennings, Isaac (1869). Memorials of a Century: Embracing a Record of Individuals and Events, Chiefly in the Early History of Bennington, Vt., and Its First Church. Gould and Lincoln. p. 323. jonathan hunt northampton.
16. "PHELPS, Charles Edward, (1833 - 1908)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
17. United States Military Academy Association of Graduates, Annual Report, 1885, pages 73-86
18. "Rudolf Serkin". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
19. Ullery, Jacob G. (1894). Men of Vermont Illustrated. Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company. p.  169.
20. Gerzina, Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina; researched with Anthony (2008). Mr. and Mrs. Prince : how an extraordinary eighteenth-century family moved out of slavery and into legend (1st ed.). New York: Amistad. ISBN   978-0060510732.
21. "Royall Tyler Collection, 1753-1935". Vermont Historical Society. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
22. Vilkomerson, Sara (April 11, 2007). "Wilde At Heart". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2007.

Further reading

• Wheatley, Phillis; Carretta, Vincent (ed.) Phylis Wheatley, Complete Writings New York: Penguin, 2001. p. 199

External links

• Town of Guilford Website