Woodstock, Vermont

Woodstock is the shire town (county seat[3][4]) of Windsor County, Vermont. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 3,048.[5] It includes the villages of South Woodstock, Taftsville, and Woodstock.

Chartered by New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth on July 10, 1761, the town was a New Hampshire grant to David Page and 61 others. It was named after Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England, as a homage to both Blenheim Palace and its owner, George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough. The town was first settled in 1768 by James Sanderson and his family.[6] In 1776, Major Joab Hoisington built a gristmill, followed by a sawmill, on the south branch of the Ottauquechee River.[7] The town was incorporated in 1837.[8]

Although the Revolution slowed settlement, Woodstock developed rapidly once the war ended in 1783. The Vermont General Assembly met here in 1807 before moving the next year to the new capital at Montpelier. Waterfalls in the Ottauquechee River provided water power to operate mills. Factories made scythes and axes, carding machines, and woolens. There was a machine shop and gunsmith shop. Manufacturers also produced furniture, wooden wares, window sashes and blinds. Carriages, horse harnesses, saddles, luggage trunks and leather goods were also manufactured. By 1859, the population was 3,041.[7] The Woodstock Railroad opened to White River Junction on September 29, 1875, carrying freight and tourists. The Woodstock Inn opened in 1892.[9]

Troy, Vermont

Troy is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,662 at the 2010 census. Troy contains two villages: the unincorporated village of Troy, and the incorporated village of North Troy.

In the winter of 1799, a small party of Indians, led by their chief, Captain Susap, joined the colonists at Troy, built their camps on the river and wintered near them. These Indians were nearly starving, which probably arose from the moose and deer, which formerly abounded here, being destroyed by the settlers. Their principal employment was making baskets, birch-bark cups and pails, and other Indian trinkets. They left in the spring and never returned. One of the party was a squaw, Molly Orcutt, who became quite noted among the settlers as a healer. She was found dead on Mount white Cap, in East Andover, Maine, in 1817, having died, it is believed, at an age of 140 years.[6]

In one of the stranger chapters in Vermont history, researcher and scientist Gerald Bull constructed the Space Research Corporation in Highwater the town's Quebec neighboring city, in 1967. His intent was to fire research packages into orbit using heavy artillery. This laboratory straddled the Vermont border. Bull was ultimately imprisoned for violating international regulations regarding an embargo on South Africa. This resulted in the bankruptcy of his corporation.

West Rutland, Vermont

West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,326 at the 2010 census.[3] The town center, located in the south central portion of the town and where about 87% of the population resides, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). The town is part of the Rutland micropolitan NECTA.

The town of Rutland was originally granted in 1761 as one of the New Hampshire Grants and named after Rutland, Massachusetts, the home of the first grantee, John Murrey. It was one of the most successful of those grants because of excellent farmland and gentle topography.

In the early 19th century, small high-quality marble deposits were discovered in Rutland, and in the 1830s a large deposit of nearly solid marble of high quality was found in what is now West Rutland. By the 1840s small firms had begun operations, but marble quarries only became profitable when the railroad arrived in 1851. At the same time, the famous quarries of Carrara in Tuscany, Italy, became largely unworkable because of their extreme depth, and Rutland quickly became one of the leading producers of marble in the world.

Richmond, Vermont

In 1775, Amos Brownson and John Chamberlain made the first settlement attempt. They abandoned their efforts in the fall of that year, but returned in the spring of 1784, at the close of the Revolutionary War. Richmond was incorporated by the General Assembly on October 27, 1794, then organized in 1795. The Winooski River and Huntington River both offered locations for water mills. Industries began to manufacture wagons, harnesses, tinware, brass, cabinet work and woodenware. By 1859, the population was 1,453.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 32.7 square miles (84.8 km2), of which 32.2 square miles (83.5 km2) is land and 0.54 square miles (1.4 km2), or 1.59%, is water.[3] Richmond is bisected by the Winooski River, with its tributary the Huntington River crossing the southeast corner of the town. Richmond is located in the western foothills of the Green Mountains.

Local students attend Mount Mansfield Union High School, Camel's Hump Middle School and Richmond Elementary School. Mount Mansfield Union High is in the neighboring town of Jericho. The MMU athletic teams are the Cougars, who play the teams of neighboring schools such as CVU.

Tunbridge, Vermont

Tunbridge is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,309. The town consists of three village centers, all situated on Vermont Route 110 in the valley of the first branch of the White River. The three settlements are named North Tunbridge (also known locally as "Blood Village"), Tunbridge Village ("Market") and South Tunbridge ("Jigger").

The entire center of Tunbridge Village, including the fairgrounds, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Officially the district listing is "Roughly, along VT 110 and adjacent rds. including Town Rd. 45 and Spring and Strafford Rds."

The historical antecedent of the Tunbridge World's Fair can be traced to the town's charter, which therein authorized the establishment of two annual fairs when the population of the town reached fifty families.

Townshend, Vermont

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 42.8 square miles (110.8 km2), of which 42.7 square miles (110.6 km2) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km2) (0.14%) is water. The West River flows through the town.[4]

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 1,149 people, 469 households, and 319 families residing in the town. The population density was 26.9 people per square mile (10.4/km2). There were 668 housing units at an average density of 15.6 per square mile (6.0/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 97.82% White, 0.26% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.78% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.70% of the population.

There were 469 households out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.4% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.84.

Yoni massage

Yoni massage or yonic massage[1] is a type of Tantric[2]massage that primarily focuses on the vulva and vagina,[3] in the same way that Lingam massage focuses on the male genitalia.[4] The massage is viewed as therapeutic and is sometimes introduced as a method of relieving tension of the vagina. It has been claimed by practitioners to be helpful to achieve fertilisation,[3] although there is no scientific support for this position.

Underhill, Vermont

The Browns River is the primary waterway within the town and originates as a stream from Mt. Mansfield. It runs southwest and converges in the valley, just east of the village of Underhill Center with two other streams that also originate from the Mt. Mansfield; first with the Stevensville Brook, and then with Clay Brook about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) further. Harvey Brook, Cranes Brook, and Mill Brook draining from other hillsides within the town also converge with the Browns River in Underhill Center.[4]

The town of Underhill contains two villages, Underhill Flats (shown on maps as "Underhill") and Underhill Center. Both villages have U.S. post office buildings and are enumerated with ZIP codes 05489 (Underhill or Underhill Flats) and 05490 (Underhill Center).

Underhill Flats is located on the western side of the town along the Vermont Route 15 corridor, and is a shared jurisdiction with the adjacent town of Jericho. This area is otherwise known as the Underhill Incorporated District (i.e. Underhill ID) and includes the Riverside settlement in Jericho as well as the Flatts settlement in Underhill. The Incorporated District was a unique authorization created by the Vermont legislature.[5] It was listed as a designated historic Village Center; the Riverside Village Center by the former Department of Housing and Community Affairs (now known as the Agency of Commerce and Community Development) in 2010.[6][7] The United Church of Underhill Presbyterian Church, and the Underhill-Jericho main fire station are located on the Underhill side of the district. The majority of the district's geographic area lies within the Town of Jericho.

Westford, Vermont

The area that is today described as Westford, Vermont originally fell within the traditional territories of the Sokoki, Missisquoi, and Cowasuck bands of the Western Abenaki tribes. Newly introduced infectious diseases and attacks by English settlers greatly impacted native populations and prompted their emigration to Quebec by the 1670s, opening the land for settlement by European immigrants. The original charter for the Town of Westford was granted at a cost of £20 (equivalent to £2,689 in 2016) by New Hampshire's provisional governor Benning Wentworth on 8 June 1763 as part of a series of what came to be known as New Hampshire Grants.[nb 1] According to Wentworth's grant, six lots were set aside (3 for religious use, 1 for the town's school, and 2 for Wentworth himself) and the remainder of the land was subdivided among the founding residents. Although officially granted simultaneously with Underhill and Mansfield, the description of Westford's territory is recognized as having been set down earlier due to the fact that their territorial boundaries are defined in relation to Westford's.[4]:189 From their founding, both Westford and Underhill shared many of the same grantees, and settlement between the two towns occurred in concert with families such as the Macombers living in Westford but conducting business on Underhill's Mount Macomber.[4]:190

Governor Wentworth's land grants in the area that is today Vermont were considered controversial at the time and since the early 1750s New York, which also laid claim to the area, had challenged the validity of town charters granted by Wentworth. Between 1764 and 1770, in a series of legal decisions handed down by England's Board of Trade and the New York Supreme Court of Judicature, New York was found to be the proper jurisdictional body for the area and Wentworth's charters were invalidated. New York immediately began redistricting the area by land patent, putting Westford within the now-extinct Charlotte County (formed 1772), and requiring residents to repurchase their land from New York in order to retain legal title. The residents of Westford (together with residents of the other New Hampshire Grant towns) protested this ruling and petitioned New York for the confirmation of Wentworth's town grants. In response New York declared that it would halt further subdivision of settled areas until clarification of King George III's intent was made clear. Before such clarification could be made, the American Revolutionary War (1775) interrupted matters and shortly afterward in 1777, Vermont seceded from New York and England to form the Republic of Vermont. New York's redistricting was forgotten and Westford solidified its position as a town within Vermont's western County of Bennington (founded in 1779, and later splitting the area containing Westford into Rutland in 1781, Addison in 1785, and ultimately Chittenden County in 1787). Westford would remain part of Chittenden County during the state's 1791 entrance to the United States as its 14th state and through to the present.

Westford is in northern Chittenden County, bordered by Franklin and Lamoille counties to the north. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.3 square miles (101.8 km2), of which 39.1 square miles (101.2 km2) is land and 0.19 square miles (0.5 km2), or 0.53%, is water.[3] Prominent waterways include Westford Pond, Pond Brook, Rogers Brook, and the Browns River (on the east), as well as Morgan Brook (in the town's center) and Beaver Brook (in the northeast near Cloverdale).[4]:191 The town has a number of named hills including those named after prominent families (e.g. Duffy and Stewart), and others named descriptively (e.g. Oak,[nb 2] Beech, Spruce, Bald,[nb 2] and Prospect). In her bicentennial work, Vermont Place-Names, historian Esther Munroe Swift suggests that some of the more abstract names of Westford's hills may closely reflect the sentiments of the original English settlers. Swift notes that the process of subdividing down to individual lots was often done in stages with the first few lots representing land suitable for dwellings and tillage, the second group of lots representing pasture land, and the third group representing land suitable only for logging. Swift points to hills like Westford's Number Eleven Hill (never renamed from its original lot number) and Jack Lot Hill as examples of hills whose names reflect the dissatisfaction of their owners with the quality of land.[4]:190

Rutland (city), Vermont

The city of Rutland is the seat of Rutland County, Vermont, United States.[2][3] As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 16,495.[4] It is located approximately 65 miles (105 km) north of the Massachusetts state line and 20 miles (32 km) east of the New York state line. Rutland is the third largest city in the state of Vermont after Burlington and South Burlington. It is surrounded by the town of Rutland, which is a separate municipality. The downtown area of the city is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.

It began on Otter Creek in the early 19th century as a small hamlet called Mill Village in Rutland, the surrounding town named by Governor Benning Wentworth in 1761 after John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland.[5] In the early 19th century, small high-quality marble deposits were discovered in Rutland, and in the 1830s a large deposit of nearly solid marble was found in what is now West Rutland. By the 1840s, small firms had begun excavations, but marble quarries proved profitable only after the railroad arrived in 1851. At the same time, the famous quarries of Carrara in Tuscany, Italy, grew largely unworkable because of their extreme depth, allowing Rutland to become one of the world's leading marble producers.[5] A large number of Italians with experience in the industry immigrated and brought their families to Rutland.

This fueled enough growth and investment that in 1886 the center of town incorporated as Rutland village. Most of the town was split off as West Rutland and Proctor, which contained the bulk of the marble quarries. Rutland City was incorporated as Vermont's third city on November 18, 1892. The new city's first mayor was John A. Mead, who served only one term in 1893.[6]