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Founding
Founding of Bennington
town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States
- 3 January 1749
- North America
Founding
town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Bennington is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 15,333. Bennington is the most populous town in southern Vermont, the second-largest town in Vermont (after Colchester) and the fifth-largest municipality in the state.
The town is home to the Bennington Battle Monument, which is the tallest human-made structure in the state of Vermont. The town has a long history of manufacturing, primarily within wood processing. The town is also recognized nationally for its pottery, iron, and textiles.
First of the New Hampshire Grants, Bennington was chartered on January 3, 1749, by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth and named in his honor. It was granted to William Williams and 61 others, mostly from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, making the town the oldest to be chartered in Vermont and outside of what is now New Hampshire, though Brattleboro had been settled earlier as a fort. The town was first settled in 1761 by four families from Hardwick and two from Amherst, Massachusetts. They were led by Capt. Samuel Robinson, who camped in the river valley on his return from the French and Indian War.
Prior to the arrival of colonists, the land belonged to the Western Abenaki of the Wabanaki Confederacy. These peoples were indigenous to Ndakinna—most of what is now northern New England, southern Quebec, and the southern Canadian Maritimes.
There are three historic districts within the town today: Old Bennington, Downtown Bennington and North Bennington. Of these, Old Bennington is the original settlement, dating back to 1761, when Congregational Separatists arrived from Connecticut and from Amherst and Hardwick, Massachusetts. In the early 1800s, Downtown Bennington started developing, and by 1854 the county's population had reached 18,589.
The town is known in particular for the Battle of Bennington, which took place during the Revolutionary War. Although the battle took place approximately 12 miles (19 km) to the west in what is now the state of New York, an ammunition storage building located in Bennington was an important strategic target. On August 16, 1777, Gen. John Stark's 1,500-strong New Hampshire Militia defeated 800 German (Hessian) mercenaries, local Loyalists, Canadians and Indians under the command of German Lt. Col. Friedrich Baum. German reinforcements under the command of Lt. Col. Heinrich von Breymann looked set to reverse the outcome, but were prevented by the arrival of Seth Warner's Green Mountain Boys, the Vermont militia founded by Ethan Allen.
In 1891, the Bennington Battle Monument was opened. The monument is a 306-foot-high (93 m) stone obelisk that is the tallest human-made structure in Vermont. It is a popular tourist attraction.
Bennington is located in southwestern Bennington County. To the west is New York State; Pownal is to the south; Shaftsbury is to the north; and Woodford is to the east.
Located in the southwesternmost portion of Vermont, it is geographically closer to the capital cities of Albany, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; and Concord, New Hampshire than to its own state capital, Montpelier.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 42.5 square miles (110.1 km2), of which 42.2 square miles (109.4 km2) are land and 0.27 square miles (0.7 km2), or 0.59%, is water. Bennington is drained by the Walloomsac River and its tributaries, flowing to the Hoosic and then the Hudson River. The town is located along the western edge of the Green Mountains, including Bald Mountain, which occupies the northeastern edge of town. (Its 2,857-foot (871 m) summit is just over the town line in Woodford.) In the southwest part of town is 2,350-foot (720 m) Mount Anthony, part of the Taconic Range.
Bennington experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with cold, snowy winters and warm to hot, humid summers. Snowfall can vary greatly from year to year. The town can experience snowfall as early as October and as late as April, and the surrounding high country can receive snow as late as May. Nor'easters, accompanied by high winds, often dump heavy snow on the town during the winter, and accumulations of one foot of snow or greater are not uncommon when these storms move through the area. One such storm dumped very wet, heavy snow on October 4, 1987, catching many residents off guard, because it occurred quite early in that year's fall season. The storm resulted in many downed trees and power lines, due in part to that year's fall foliage still being intact. Abundant sunshine, along with heavy showers and thunderstorms, are frequent during the summer months. Although tornadoes seldom occur there, an F2 tornado did hit North Bennington on May 31, 1998, during an extremely rare tornado outbreak in the region.
The record high is 98 °F (37 °C), reached on July 6, 1931; July 24, 1933; August 15 and 24, 1947; August 27, 1948; and July 18, 1953. The record low is −33 °F (−36 °C), set on January 31, 1948. July is typically the wettest month, and February the driest.
Bennington lies in USDA plant hardiness zone 5a.
As of the 2010 US census, there were 15,764 people, 6,246 households, and 3,716 families residing in the town. The population density was 370.92 people per square mile (143.18/km2). There were 6,763 housing units at an average density of 159.3 per square mile (61.4/km2). The ethnic/racial makeup of the town was 95.9% White, 1.3% from two or more races, 1.2% Black, 0.8% Asian, 0.4% from other races, 0.3% Native American, and 0.1% Pacific Islander. Latino of any race were 1.7% of the population.
There were 6,246 households, out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were couples living together and joined in either marriage or civil union, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.5% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $39,765, and the median income for a family was $51,489. Males had a median income of $39,406 versus $30,322 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,560. About 14.2% of families and 15.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.
There are 22 places of worship in Bennington, 21 Christian and one Jewish, and at least 18 denominations.
Bennington employs an open town meeting form of local government, with an elected seven-member Select Board elected by the town's citizens at large from two districts. The Select Board is considered the "executive branch" of the town's government, which in turn hires and supervises a Town Manager. As of 2021, the town manager is Stuart A. Hurd. The current Town Clerk is Cassandra J. Barbeau.
Four representatives from Bennington's two voting districts currently represent the town in Montpelier. Bennington County is also represented by two state senators.
The town is protected by the Bennington Fire Department, the Bennington Rural Fire Department, and the North Bennington Fire Department. The current chief of the Bennington Fire Department is Jeff Vickers, and the current chief of the Bennington Rural Fire Department is Wayne Davis.
The town is protected by the Bennington Police Department, which consists of 40 sworn and non-sworn officials serving the town, including the villages of Old Bennington and North Bennington. The police station's home is at 118 South Street in downtown Bennington. Its current Chief of Police is Paul J. Doucette.
Industries related to agriculture, forestry, fishing, trade and retail, tourism, shipping by air, health care and government related jobs help shape and play a vital role in Bennington's economy. Bennington County has 15,194 non-farm employees living or working within the county as of 2013. Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, with a workforce of approximately 1,300 employees, is the town's largest employer and the seventh largest in Vermont. Its largest for-profit manufacturing employer is NSK Steering Systems America, Inc., with a workforce of 864 as of March 2013. Saint Gobain owns a plastic factory, the former ChemFab plant, which has contaminated the environment with Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).
Bennington leaders have formed the Bennington Economic Development Partners to facilitate and expedite economic growth, working from a newly created Strategic Economic Development Plan that promotes the benefits afforded to companies located in the local area. Low interest loans, site-ready properties for manufacturing, R&D, Retail, and Technology are a few of the benefits available to new and existing industries.
The Town of Bennington Economic and Community Development Office, the Better Bennington Corporation, the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce, Bennington County Regional Commission, and Bennington County Industrial Corporation are just some of the partners that coordinate the efforts of the Strategic Plan.
Bennington's "big box" development is mostly confined to the Northside Drive and Kocher Drive corridor in the northern portion of town.
Long time ski clothing company CB Sports was headquartered in Bennington. They operated a popular factory outlet store in town which closed in 2008, due to slow sales as a result of the Great Recession.
Bennington has a historic downtown with businesses that include a chocolatier, bakery, cafes, pizza parlors, Chinese restaurant, live theatre, breweries and distilleries, bookshop, men's and women's clothiers, jewelers, Vermont crafts and products, toy stores, antique stores, music shops, a hobby shop, a country store, an art shop, a museum, and several galleries.
Downtown Bennington is also home to Bennington Potters, Oldcastle Theatre, Hemmings Motor News, Robert Frost's Grave and the Old First Church, the Bennington Museum, Grandma Moses' Schoolhouse, Old Blacksmith Shop Visitor Center, Lucky Dragon, The Blue Benn Diner and Madison's Brewery.
The downtown area is noted for its historically preserved architecture, outdoor seasonal dining, locally owned shops, cafés, Memorial Fountain Park, antique shops, and river walk paralleling the Walloomsac River.
Downtown Bennington is a designated "Vermont Main Street" participant overseen and operated by the Better Bennington Corporation, a nationally accredited National Main Street Program by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
In January 2005, the Select Board proposed a big box bylaw, primarily in response to Wal-Mart's plans to raze its existing 51,000-square-foot (4,700 m2) outlet and replace it with a 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m2) Supercenter. The potential negative impact on the town's local economy, the low wages paid by Wal-Mart to its employees, and controversies associated with Wal-Mart in general were cited as reasons in support of the bylaw. The bylaw called for a 50,000-to-75,000-square-foot (4,600 to 7,000 m2) cap on big box stores. In addition, any retailer wishing to build a store greater than 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of aggregate store space would be required to submit and pay for an evaluation known as a Community Impact Study to the Select Board for approval. Residents voted against the initial proposal in April 2005. However, the Select Board passed a new bylaw on August 1, 2005, that went into effect August 22.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Bennington, Vermont”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.