Historical U.S. Census totals for Windham County, Vermont

This article shows U.S. Census totals for Windham County, Vermont, broken down by municipality, from 1900 to 2000.

Most areas of New England are entirely divided into incorporated municipalities, with no unincorporated territory. In the three northern New England states, however, some unincorporated territory does exist, generally in areas that are very sparsely populated. Windham County contains a small amount of unincorporated territory, one of four counties in Vermont to have such areas. The unincorporated territory in Windham County consists of a tract measuring about 28 square miles, in a remote area of the Green Mountains on the county’s western edge. This area was once incorporated as the town of Somerset, and is still sometimes referred to as “Somerset Township”. Somerset disincorporated in 1937 due to population loss; its population has not reached double figures in any census since 1930. Except for Somerset, all of Windham County is incorporated.

There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont: towns, cities and villages. As in the other New England states, towns are the basic unit of municipal government. Cities are independent of and equivalent to towns, but differ in their form of government. Villages overlay towns and assume responsibility for some municipal services within their boundaries. Incorporated villages are not found in any of the other New England states, and are less common in Vermont today than they have been in the past. A number of villages have disincorporated over the years, choosing to revert back to full town control; most of those that remain are very small.

The main tables below show municipalities at the town level. The tables in the New England Historical U.S. Census Totals series differentiate between towns and cities; however, there have never been any cities in Windham County. For any census, adding up the totals for each town-level municipality, including Somerset, should yield the county total. (Note that, for censuses up through 1930, Somerset was an incorporated town. In that era, Windham County was entirely divided into incorporated municipalities, following the standard procedure in New England.) A separate section follows with population totals for villages from 1930 to 2000.

For more information on the New England municipal system, see New England town.

Corporate changes since 1900

*1937 – Somerset disincorporated and reverted to unorganized territory

1900

County Total: 26,660

*Brattleboro 6,640
*Rockingham 5,809
*Westminster 1,295
*Wilmington 1,221
*Whitingham 1,042
*Putney 969
*Londonderry 961
*Newfane 905
*Townshend 833
*Grafton 804
*Jamaica 800
*Guilford 782
*Dummerston 726
*Halifax 662
*Wardsboro 637
*Vernon 578
*Dover 503
*Marlboro 448
*Windham 356
*Stratton 271
*Athens 180
*Brookline 171
*Somerset 67

1910

County Total: 26,932

*Brattleboro 7,541
*Rockingham 6,207
*Westminster 1,327
*Wilmington 1,229
*Whitingham 969
*Londonderry 962
*Putney 788
*Newfane 820
*Townshend 817
*Guilford 769
*Grafton 729
*Jamaica 716
*Dummerston 643
*Halifax 635
*Vernon 606
*Wardsboro 559
*Marlboro 442
*Dover 377
*Windham 345
*Athens 201
*Brookline 137
*Stratton 86
*Somerset 27

1920

County Total: 26,373

*Brattleboro 8,332
*Rockingham 6,231
*Wilmington 1,483
*Westminster 1,289
*Londonderry 911
*Whitingham 811
*Townshend 786
*Putney 761
*Newfane 710
*Guilford 684
*Dummerston 570
*Jamaica 566
*Vernon 556
*Halifax 504
*Grafton 476
*Dover 385
*Wardsboro 380
*Marlboro 300
*Windham 261
*Athens 123
*Brookline 105
*Stratton 90
*Somerset 59

1930

County Total: 26,015

*Brattleboro 9,816
*Rockingham 5,302
*Westminster 1,324
*Wilmington 1,171
*Putney 835
*Londonderry 799
*Whitingham 734
*Guilford 663
*Newfane 662
*Townshend 633
*Vernon 609
*Dummerston 604
*Jamaica 570
*Grafton 453
*Halifax 390
*Wardsboro 355
*Dover 278
*Marlboro 255
*Windham 254
*Athens 132
*Brookline 101
*Stratton 55
*Somerset 20

1940

County Total: 27,850

*Brattleboro 10,983
*Rockingham 5,737
*Westminster 1,403
*Wilmington 1,221
*Putney 904
*Londonderry 859
*Whitingham 789
*Townshend 694
*Guilford 686
*Newfane 672
*Dummerston 615
*Jamaica 567
*Vernon 559
*Wardsboro 401
*Grafton 393
*Halifax 353
*Dover 244
*Marlboro 225
*Windham 183
*Athens 136
*Stratton 117
*Brookline 104

Unorganized territory (the former town of Somerset) reported 5 residents.

1950

County Total: 28,749

*Brattleboro 11,522
*Rockingham 5,499
*Westminster 1,400
*Wilmington 1,169
*Putney 1,019
*Londonderry 953
*Whitingham 816
*Guilford 796
*Dummerston 790
*Vernon 712
*Newfane 708
*Jamaica 597
*Townshend 584
*Grafton 422
*Wardsboro 377
*Halifax 343
*Marlboro 311
*Dover 252
*Windham 146
*Athens 139
*Brookline 132
*Stratton 54

Unorganized territory (the former town of Somerset) reported 8 residents.

1960

County Total: 29,776

*Brattleboro 11,734
*Rockingham 5,704
*Westminster 1,602
*Wilmington 1,245
*Putney 1,177
*Londonderry 898
*Dummerston 872
*Vernon 865
*Whitingham 838
*Guilford 823
*Newfane 714
*Townshend 643
*Jamaica 496
*Grafton 426
*Dover 370
*Marlboro 347
*Wardsboro 322
*Halifax 268
*Athens 142
*Windham 135
*Brookline 127
*Stratton 38

Unorganized territory (the former town of Somerset) reported 4 residents.

1970

County Total: 33,476

*Brattleboro 12,239
*Rockingham 5,501
*Westminster 1,875
*Putney 1,727
*Wilmington 1,586
*Dummerston 1,295
*Guilford 1,108
*Londonderry 1,037
*Vernon 1,024
*Whitingham 1,011
*Newfane 900
*Townshend 668
*Marlboro 592
*Jamaica 590
*Dover 555
*Grafton 465
*Wardsboro 391
*Halifax 295
*Brookline 180
*Windham 174
*Athens 159
*Stratton 104

Unorganized territory (the former town of Somerset) reported no residents.

1980

County Total: 36,933

*Brattleboro 11,886
*Rockingham 5,538
*Westminster 2,493
*Putney 1,850
*Wilmington 1,808
*Dummerston 1,574
*Guilford 1,532
*Londonderry 1,510
*Vernon 1,175
*Newfane 1,129
*Whitingham 1,043
*Townshend 849
*Marlboro 695
*Jamaica 681
*Dover 666
*Grafton 604
*Wardsboro 505
*Halifax 488
*Brookline 310
*Athens 250
*Windham 223
*Stratton 122

Unorganized territory (the former town of Somerset) reported 2 residents.

1990

County Total: 41,588

*Brattleboro 12,241
*Rockingham 5,484
*Westminster 3,026
*Putney 2,352
*Wilmington 1,968
*Guilford 1,941
*Dummerston 1,863
*Vernon 1,850
*Londonderry 1,506
*Newfane 1,555
*Whitingham 1,177
*Townshend 1,019
*Dover 994
*Marlboro 924
*Jamaica 754
*Wardsboro 654
*Grafton 602
*Halifax 588
*Brookline 403
*Athens 313
*Windham 251
*Stratton 121

Unorganized territory (the former town of Somerset) reported 2 residents.

2000

County Total: 44,216

*Brattleboro 12,005
*Rockingham 5,309
*Westminster 3,210
*Putney 2,634
*Wilmington 2,225
*Vernon 2,141
*Guilford 2,046
*Dummerston 1,915
*Londonderry 1,709
*Newfane 1,680
*Dover 1,410
*Whitingham 1,298
*Townshend 1,149
*Marlboro 978
*Jamaica 946
*Wardsboro 854
*Halifax 782
*Grafton 649
*Brookline 467
*Athens 340
*Windham 328
*Stratton 136

Unorganized territory (the former town of Somerset) reported 5 residents.

Villages

This section lists census totals for incorporated villages for 1930 through 2000.

As of 1930, Windham County contained eight incorporated villages:

*The village of Bellows Falls (inc. 1834), within the town of Rockingham

*The village of Jacksonville (inc. 1905), within the town of Whitingham

*The village of Newfane (inc. 1907), within the town of the same name

*The village of North Westminster (inc. 1925), within the town of Westminster

*The village of Saxtons River (inc. 1905), within the town of Rockingham

*The village of Townshend (inc. 1916), within the town of the same name

*The village of Westminster (inc. 1907), within the town of the same name

*The village of Wilmington, within the town of the same name

Two of the villages have since disincorporated or otherwise become inactive:

*The village of Wilmington disincorporated in 1965.

*The village of Townshend was apparently removed from the rolls of Census-recognized incorporated villages sometime between 1970 and 1980. According to information on the Vermont state archives web site, village residents had voted to abandon the village government in 1961, but no action was taken at the state level to formally dissolve the village, so it technically remained in existence, at least on paper (it still holds this status today). One other village which had similarly been abandoned (Groton, in Caledonia County) was also dropped from the Census between 1970 and 1980. It appears that Census officials elected to stop recognizing these inactive villages for Census purposes. The non-coextensive city of Winsted, Connecticut seems to have been dropped by the Census at the same time for similar reasons.

Note: complete data for 1900, 1910 and 1920 are not available, but the population of the village of Brattleboro was in 5,297 in 1900, 6,517 in 1910, and 7,324 in 1920 (by the time of the 1930 Census, the village of Brattleboro had disincorporated).

1930

*Bellows Falls 3,930
*Saxtons River 670
*Wilmington 611
*North Westminster 335
*Westminster 320
*Jacksonville 220
*Townshend 196
*Newfane 160

1940

*Bellows Falls 4,236
*Saxtons River 740
*Wilmington 597
*North Westminster 400
*Westminster 270
*Jacksonville 240
*Townshend 210
*Newfane 160

1950

*Bellows Falls 3,881
*Saxtons River 715
*Wilmington 571
*North Westminster 404
*Westminster 298
*Jacksonville 220
*Townshend 178
*Newfane 156

1960

*Bellows Falls 3,831
*Saxtons River 725
*Wilmington 591
*North Westminster 368
*Westminster 333
*Jacksonville 240
*Townshend 170
*Newfane 146

1970

*Bellows Falls 3,505
*Saxtons River 581
*Wilmington 544
*Westminster 446
*North Westminster 348
*Jacksonville 251
*Newfane 183
*Townshend 159

1980

*Bellows Falls 3,456
*Saxtons River 593
*Westminster 319
*North Westminster 310
*Jacksonville 252
*Newfane 119

1990

*Bellows Falls 3,313
*Saxtons River 541
*Westminster 399
*North Westminster 268
*Jacksonville 244
*Newfane 164

2000

*Bellows Falls 3,165
*Saxtons River 519
*Westminster 276
*North Westminster 271
*Jacksonville 137
*Newfane 116

Notes

1930 and 1940 Census

The Census Bureau continued to tabluate population for the former village of Brattleboro in the 1930 and 1940 Censuses, even though the reports for those censuses acknowledge that it had disincorporated in 1927. The population totals were 8,709 in 1930 and 9,622 in 1940.

1960 Census

The Census Bureau made a number of revisions to 1960 census totals subsequent to their initial release. When it did so, however, it appears to have updated municipal totals only, not overall county totals or state totals, even though in most cases changing municipal totals should have caused county and state totals to change. The 1960 total for Windham County was originally reported as 29,776; and for the town of Stratton, 24. The total for Stratton was later revised to that shown in the list above (38). This should have caused the county total to change as well (to 29,790), but subsequent census publications have continued to list the county total as it was originally reported (29,776). As a result, in the list above, the municipal totals for 1960 do not add to the county total. The 1960 state total for Vermont that appears in various Census materials (389,881) likewise reflects the original 1960 total for Windham County, and does not take into account the revision made to the population of Stratton.

1970 Census

The 1970 Census reported a population of 544 for the village of Wilmington. This was in error, however, as the village had disincorporated in 1965.

ee also

*United States Census
*Windham County, Vermont