Essex, Vermont

Essex, Vermont
Town
Motto(s): "Crossroads of Chittenden County"[1]

Location in Chittenden County and the state of Vermont.
Essex, Vermont
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 44°30′7″N 73°5′38″W / 44.50194°N 73.09389°W / 44.50194; -73.09389Coordinates: 44°30′7″N 73°5′38″W / 44.50194°N 73.09389°W / 44.50194; -73.09389
Country United States
State Vermont
County Chittenden
Incorporated June 7, 1763[1]
Communities Essex Junction
Essex Center
Butlers Corners
Pages Corner
Area
 • Total 39.3 sq mi (101.8 km2)
 • Land 38.8 sq mi (100.6 km2)
 • Water 0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
Elevation 486 ft (148 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 19,587
 • Estimate (2017) 21,519
 • Density 534/sq mi (206.1/km2)
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP codes 05451-05452
Area code 802
FIPS code 50-24175[2]
GNIS feature ID 1462091[3]
Website www.essex.org

Essex is the second most populous town in the U.S. state of Vermont and the second most populous incorporated area in Chittenden County, Vermont and the whole state of Vermont with the first being Burlington, Vermont at 42,452 according to a 2015 U.S. census estimate.[4] Essex has an estimated population of 21,199 in 2016.[5] The village of Essex Junction is located within the town, and that village is home to the state of Vermont's busiest Amtrak station and largest private employer, GlobalFoundries. Vermont Route 289 crosses the town from east to west.

History

Town vote to mergeRevote
District 2006-11-07 2007-01-23
YesNo YesNo
6-1 (outside village) 1,2832,319 690 2,528
6-3 (outside village) 365822
6-2 (within village) 2,7281,026 2,009362
Townwide totals 4,3764,167 2,6992,890
Village vote to accept No revote
required,
result was
uncontested.
  2,922 1,085

The town was incorporated on June 7, 1763,[1] named after the Earl of Essex.[6]

The village of Essex Junction was formed—within the town of Essex—on November 15, 1892. The village was formed to provide services (such as sidewalks, water, and sewers) to the villagers that the rest of the, mostly rural, town citizens did not want, and did not want to pay for.

As the town outside the village developed, they gradually added similar services for themselves, and by 1958, the first hints of merger showed up in a voter petition. Since then a series of votes (often contentious) had defeated or passed merger in each community, but never at the same time in both (which was required by the state legislature for them to sign off on the merger).

This temporarily changed on November 7, 2006, when merger passed in the town as a whole, and in the village. The town as a whole (including the village) got to vote once on the merger, and the village, separately, got to vote in a second ballot to accept the merger if it passed the townwide vote. This was confusing enough that the regional paper misreported the results as a defeat of the merger, based solely on the vote results outside the village.[7] The next day the correct results were reported in both the town's paper,[8] and as a correction in the regional paper.[9]

On December 6, 2006, a petition to reconsider the merger was submitted to the town. The petition contained signatures totaling more than 5 percent of registered voters, which is the threshold required to force a re-vote.[10] The revote was held on January 23, 2007, with a result that overturned the merger by 191 votes, rejecting the current merger proposal.[11]

If the results had stood, a multi-year merger process would have resulted in a new "Town of Essex Junction" replacing the current governments of the town of Essex and the village of Essex Junction.

Geography

Essex is located in central Chittenden County, bordered on the south by the Winooski River. Neighboring municipalities are Colchester to the west, Milton at the northwest corner, Westford to the north, Underhill at the northeast corner, Jericho to the east, Williston to the south, and the city of South Burlington to the southwest. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town of Essex has a total area of 39.3 square miles (101.8 km2), of which 38.8 square miles (100.6 km2) is land and 0.50 square miles (1.3 km2), or 1.26%, is water.[12]

The village of Essex Junction is located in the southwestern part of the town.[13]

The 575 acre Indian Brook Town Conservation Area and 335 acre Saxon Hill Town Forest are located within the town.[14]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.%±
1790354—
1800729105.9%
181095731.3%
18201,08913.8%
18301,66452.8%
18401,8249.6%
18502,05212.5%
18601,906−7.1%
18702,0226.1%
18802,1044.1%
18902,013−4.3%
19002,2039.4%
19102,71423.2%
19202,449−9.8%
19302,87617.4%
19403,0596.4%
19503,93128.5%
19607,09080.4%
197010,95154.5%
198014,39231.4%
199016,49814.6%
200018,62612.9%
201019,5875.2%
Est. 201721,519[15]9.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[16]

2010 census

As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 19,587 people and 7,322 households in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 91.6% non-Hispanic White, 1.5% Black or African American, 3.2% Asian, 0.3% Native American, 0.1% other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race made up 1.7% of the population. The population density was 534 people per square mile (184.4/km2). There were 7,170 housing units at an average density of 183.8 per square mile (71.0/km2). There were 7,013 households out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.5% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 27.9% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $58,441, and the median income for a family was $65,794. Males had a median income of $45,428 versus $27,426 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,854. About 1.8% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Museums and other points of interest

The Harriet Farnsworth Powell Museum is located in Essex. The museum is housed in a former two-room schoolhouse, and includes a collection of costumes, school items, and local memorabilia.[1][17]

Government

Essex comprises three Vermont Legislature districts (seats) within Chittenden County: District 8-1, the central portion of the town of Essex;[18] District 8-2, the village of Essex Junction;[19] and District 8-3, northern town of Essex and the town of Westford.[20] "Essex Town" and Essex Junction operate separate fire departments, libraries, parks departments, and municipal services. The governments operate a unified police department, and are part of a unified school district.

Education

The Essex Westford School District (EWSD)—unified on July 1, 2017—serves 4,500 pre-K to grade 12 students in "Essex Town", Essex Junction, and Westford, Vermont.[21] EWSD operates ten schools in the two towns—Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School, Essex Center for Technology, Essex Elementary School, Essex High School (EHS), Essex Middle School, Founders Memorial School, Hiawatha Elementary School, Summit Street School, Thomas Fleming School, and Westford School.[22] Previously, the three communities had separate pre-K to grade 8 school districts that fed the already unified EHS.

Essex Middle School contains a "school within a school". In 2009, 87 students from 4th grade to 8th grade began to study in an alternative environment called the "Edge Academy" that allows them a say in how and what they study.[23]

EWSD provides busing for students in "Essex Town" (outside the village) and Westford, while students within the village generally walk to school. EWSD also provides busing to students from South Hero, Grand Isle, North Hero and Georgia who choose to attend EHS.[24]

Media

The Essex Reporter is a weekly newspaper published in town, covering news in Essex and the surrounding communities in Chittenden County.[25] It has a weekly circulation of 8,800 copies.[26]

Infrastructure

Transportation

Vermont's Circumferential Highway (Vermont Route 289 or "The Circ") courses through Essex, and the section within Essex's jurisdiction has been completed. However, further construction of the highway has been halted in surrounding communities by court action from environmental protesters.

Bus service is provided by Chittenden County Transportation Authority.

Rail

Amtrak, the national rail passenger system, provides daily service via its station in Essex Junction, operating the Vermonter train between St. Albans, Vermont and Washington, D.C. In 2008, a study indicated that the cheapest method for one person to get to New York City from "Burlington" (Essex Junction), was by train at $48 one way. It was also the longest, taking an estimated 9 hours and 25 minutes.[27][28]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Town of Essex Vermont". Town of Essex Vermont. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. ↑ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  4. ↑ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001): Burlington city, Vermont". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014 (PEPANNRES): Minor Civil Divisions by County, Vermont". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Profile for Essex, Vermont, VT". ePodunk. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  7. ↑ Welch, Victoria (2006-11-08), "Essex Defeats Merger 2-1", Burlington Free Press .
  8. ↑ Tyler, George (2006-11-09), "Merger Wins: Confusion over vote count", Essex Reporter .
  9. ↑ Welch, Victoria (2006-11-09), "Essex merger moves forward: An apology to our Essex readers", Burlington Free Press .
  10. ↑ Welch, Victoria (2006-12-07), "New rift emerges in Essex merger", Burlington Free Press
  11. ↑ Welch, Victoria (2007-01-24), "This time, Essex rejects merger" (– Scholar search), Burlington Free Press .
  12. ↑ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001): Essex town, Chittenden County, Vermont". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Maps: Counties of Vermont" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. p. 3. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
  14. ↑ "Historical Analysis of Two Town Forests in Essex, Vermont" (PDF). Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  15. ↑ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Essex town, Chittenden County, Vermont". Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  16. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Champlain Valley Region Vermont Historical Societies". Vermont Living Magazine. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  18. ↑ "District: CHI-8-1" (PDF). Vermont General Assembly. 2012. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  19. ↑ "District: CHI-8-2" (PDF). Vermont General Assembly. 2012. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  20. ↑ "District: CHI-8-3" (PDF). Vermont General Assembly. 2012. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  21. ↑ "About EWSD". www.ewsd.org. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  22. ↑ "EWSD Schools". www.ewsd.org. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  23. ↑ Ryan, Matt (3 September 2009). "Academy school take role in learning". Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. p. 2B.
  24. ↑ "EWSD Transportation". www.ewsd.org. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  25. ↑ "The Essex Reporter". The Essex Reporter. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  26. ↑ "The Essex Reporter". Mondo Times. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  27. ↑ Assuming $4 per gallon ($1 per liter) gasoline and 20 mpg‑US (12 L/100 km; 24 mpg‑imp) when comparing to auto
  28. ↑ McKean, Dan (August 17, 2008), Which way?, Burlington Free Press
  29. ↑ "Bert Abbey Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  30. ↑ "William B. Castle". Find a Grave. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  31. ↑ Peter Hirschfeld, Vermont Press Bureau, Steven Cray to Serve as Next Adjutant General of Vermont National Guard Archived 2013-03-05 at the Wayback Machine., February 21, 2013
  32. ↑ "Linda K. Myers". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved November 10, 2012.


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