Manchester, Vermont

Coordinates: 43°8′27″N 73°4′48″W / 43.14083°N 73.08000°W / 43.14083; -73.08000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Manchester, Vermont
FIPS code
50-42850[1]
GNIS feature ID1462142[2]
Websitemanchester-vt.gov

Manchester is a

2020 census.[5]

factory outlet
stores of national chain retailers as well as many locally owned businesses and retaurants.

History

View of Manchester in 1913
c. 1920s at Ye Olde Tavern

The town was one of several chartered in 1761 by Benning Wentworth, colonial governor of New Hampshire. It was his custom to name new towns after prominent English aristocrats of the day, hoping they might adopt a patronly interest in their namesakes. Wentworth named Manchester for Robert Montagu, 3rd Duke of Manchester. First settled in 1764, the town was laid out in 1784. The land was better suited for grazing than tillage, so by 1839 about 6,000 sheep roamed the pastures and hillsides.

Other industries came to include

railroad from industrialized centers like New York City brought tourists, drawn by Manchester's historic architecture and beautiful setting among mountains. Following the Civil War
, the town developed into an affluent resort area, which it remains today.

Between 1812 and 1819, Manchester was made famous by the Boorn–Colvin case, called "America's first wrongful conviction murder case",[6] the subject of several books and still studied today.[7]

Orvis is a family-owned retail and mail-order business specializing in high-end fly fishing, hunting and sporting goods. Founded in Manchester in 1856 by Charles F. Orvis to sell fishing tackle, it is the oldest mail-order retailer in the United States.[8][9]

Jake Burton Carpenter, founder of Burton Snowboards, perfected snowboard design in his garage in Manchester. The company operated out of Manchester until 1992, when it relocated to Burlington.[8] Nearby Stratton Mountain was among the first ski resorts to allow snowboarding.

The town has three distinct state-recognized historic districts—the Depot district located on Highland Avenue and Elm Street, Bonnet Street, just north of Main Street, and Main Street itself.[8]

Geography

The Congregational Church in Manchester Village, Vermont
View of Manchester, Vermont by DeWitt Clinton Boutelle, 1870

Manchester is located in north-central Bennington County, lying between the

Taconic Range to the west. Equinox Mountain, the highest summit in the Taconics, with an elevation of 3,850 feet (1,170 m), is in the western part of the town. Manchester is drained by the Batten Kill
, Lye Brook, Munson Brook, Bromley Brook, and Bourn Brook. The Lye Brook Falls Hiking Trail, which leads to one of the highest waterfalls in Vermont, is a popular local attraction.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 42.2 square miles (109.4 km2), of which 42.1 square miles (109.1 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km2), or 0.29%, is water.[10]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
17901,276—
18001,3979.5%
18101,5027.5%
18201,5080.4%
18301,5251.1%
18401,5994.9%
18501,78211.4%
18601,688−5.3%
18701,89712.4%
18801,9281.6%
18901,907−1.1%
19001,9552.5%
19102,0444.6%
19202,0570.6%
19302,004−2.6%
19402,1396.7%
19502,42513.4%
19602,4701.9%
19702,91918.2%
19803,26111.7%
19903,62211.1%
20004,18015.4%
20104,3915.0%
20204,4842.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]

As of the

Latino
of any race were 1.75% of the population.

There were 1,819 households, out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples who were living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. Of all households 30.5% were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.81.

The population distribution by age for Manchester was 23.1% under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $47,196, and the median income for a family was $59,191. Males had a median income of $36,453 versus $26,017 for females. The

poverty line
, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Manchester is crossed by four highways, including one Super-2 freeway. They are:

Greyhound, the national intercity bus system, also serves Manchester through Premier Coach's Vermont Translines with an intercity bus connection between Burlington, Vermont and Albany, New York.[15][16]

Rail

Manchester has several Amtrak passenger train connections within a one-hour drive.

New York City.[17][18] As of 2021, the idea is listed simply as a "potential initiative" in the Vermont Rail Plan.[19]

Notable attractions

Hildene, the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln and Mary Lincoln, is a mansion in the Georgian Revival style completed in 1905 that is located southwest of Manchester Center.[20] Robert Lincoln, the only child of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln to survive into adulthood, served as Secretary of War to Presidents Garfield and Arthur, was appointed Minister (Ambassador) to Great Britain during the administration of President Benjamin Harrison, and later became general counsel and then president of the Pullman Company. The Hildene house and surrounding grounds are open to the public.

Also located in Manchester, at the base of Mount Equinox, is the Southern Vermont Arts Center (SVAC). In addition to hosting art exhibitions from its permanent collections and of visiting collections in its gallery facilities, SVAC conducts educational programs and provides facilities for performances and events in the arts. The permanent collection at SVAC includes the work of such regional artists as Ogden Pleissner, Jay Hall Conaway, Reginald Marsh, Guy Pene du Bois, Lorenzo Hatch, Luigi Lucioni, Arthur Gibbs Burton, and Robert Strong Woodward.[21]

Media

Like the rest of Bennington County, Manchester lies in the Albany–Schenectady–Troy television and radio media market.

Manchester is home to

Capital Region of New York's radio market area,[22] while also being able to reach the remainder of southern Vermont, western Massachusetts, and southwestern New Hampshire
.

In November and December 2020, John Gray's novel, Manchester Christmas, became a local and regional bestseller.[23]

WVNK 91.1 FM, a

VPR
partner station, is also licensed to Manchester.

Print news is carried in the Manchester Journal and Bennington Banner.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "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. ^ Title 24, Part I, Chapter 1, §3, Vermont Statutes. Accessed November 1, 2007.
  4. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  5. ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Manchester town, Bennington County, Vermont". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  6. ^ Warden, Rob (October 10, 2013). "First Wrongful Conviction: Jesse Boorn and Stephen Boorn". Center on Wrongful Convictions. Northwestern University Law School. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  7. ^ Murder by Gaslight: The Dead Alive. Murderbygasslight.blogspot.com (April 11, 2010). Retrieved on 2014-04-12.
  8. ^ a b c "Town of Manchester History | Town of Manchester, VT". www.manchester-vt.gov. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012.
  9. ^ Orvis
  10. ^ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Manchester town, Bennington County, Vermont". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  11. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  12. ^ Orange Line Schedule, Green Mountain Community Network, Inc. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  13. ^ Manchester Route, Marble Valley Regional Transit District. Archived August 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  14. ^ Rutland-Southern Vermont Regional Airport. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  15. ^ New Vermont Bus Service Coming Soon Archived October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, My Champlain Valley. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  16. ^ Bus Service VT NH NY, Vermont Translines. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  17. ^ "New York – Vermont Bi-State Intercity Passenger Rail Study: Service Development Plan" (PDF). Vermont Agency of Transportation. July 2014. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  18. ^ "Vermont Rail Plan: Passenger Rail Forecasting Scenarios" (PDF). Vermont Agency of Transportation. May 2021. pp. 8–10. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  19. ^ "Vermont Rail Plan" (PDF). Vermont Agency of Transportation. May 2021. pp. 39–40. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  20. ^ "Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home". 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  21. ^ "Southern Vermont Arts Center". 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  22. ^ WEQX's Coverage Area. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  23. ^ "VT Voices Q&A with John Gray". November 23, 2020.
  24. ^ "Elfriede Abbe". Printmaking. Frog Hollow. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  25. ^ Bigelow, Walter J. (1919). Vermont, Its Government 1919-1920. Montpelier, VT: Historical Publishing Company. p. 23.
  26. ^ Aldrich, Lewis Cass (1889). History of Bennington County, Vt. Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Co. pp. 539–541.
  27. ^ History of Bennington County, Vt., pp. 539–541.
  28. ^ Ullery, Jacob G. (1894). Huse, Hiram A. (ed.). Men of Vermont: an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont. Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company. pp. 336–337 – via Internet Archive.
  29. ^ Dodge, Prentiss Cutler (1912). Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography. Burlington, VT: Ullery Publishing Company. pp. 301–302 – via Google Books.
  30. ^ "The Samples | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Manchester, Vermont.
New International Encyclopedia article about "Manchester, Vermont
".
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Manchester, Vermont.
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