Bellows Falls

Bellows Falls
View of the city from Falls Mountain
Location in Vermont
Bellows Falls
Basic data
Foundation :	1909
State :	United States
State :	Vermont
County :	Windham County
Coordinates :	43 ° 8 ′  N , 72 ° 28 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 8 ′  N , 72 ° 28 ′  W
Time zone :	Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Residents :	3,148 (as of 2010)
Population density :	874.4 inhabitants per km 2
Area :	3.6 km 2  (approx. 1 mi 2 ) of which 3.6 km 2  (approx. 1 mi 2 ) are land
Height :	95 m
Postal code :	05101
Area code :	+1 802
FIPS :	50-04225
GNIS ID :	1456381
Website :	RockBF.org
The former paper mill on the river island, 1907

Bellows Falls is a village in the town of Rockingham in Windham County , Vermont , United States with a population of 3,148 (according to the 2010 census). Bellows Falls is located southeast of the town of Rockingham, on the western bank of the Connecticut River .

Surrounding places

All information as straight-line distances.

• North: Charlestown , 7.1 miles
• Northeast: Langdon , 3.7 mi
• East: Marlow , 20.5 km
• Southeast: Surry , 10 mi
• South: Westminster , 4.7 miles
• Southwest: Townshend , 21.0 km
• West: Saxtons River , 3.7 mi
• Northwest: Rockingham , 8.0 km

history

Originated at waterfalls in the Connecticut River , the Great Falls , directly across from Walpole , which belongs to New Hampshire on the east bank of the river , the place developed due to its geographical favorable position to one of the gateways of the settlers into the area of ​​today's Vermont. Vermont's first Covered Bridge - also the first bridge to span the Connecticut River for a length of 365 feet - was built here in 1785 and remained the only bridge over the river until 1796. It was replaced by another construction in 1840. The river island, which is surrounded by waterfalls on both sides, was initially used as a fishing spot for the original inhabitants and, when colonists settled, developed into a mill square. The river island was last used for a large paper mill, which was not closed until 1921. Today the waterfalls are considered natural wonders and are advertised as a tourist attraction. The river island is now the location of the Amtrak Bellows Falls train station , a hydroelectric power station and an industrial park.

The Bellows Falls Canal was one of the first shipping canals built in the United States. It was built between 1791 and 1802 when the Connecticut River was made navigable and bypasses the waterfalls and rapids in the area. It overcomes a height difference of almost eight meters in what were originally nine locks. Since the railway lines reached the settlement in the late 1840s, the canal has lost its importance despite some widening and deepening, but is still in use today.

As one of the two starting points of the Bellows Falls – Burlington railway line , the place was connected to the nascent railway network of the United States early on. Construction began in May 1847, and the first train to Burlington drove on December 24th of the same year, connecting the Atlantic coast with Lake Champlain . The route still exists today. The maintenance systems located here provided space for the Steamtown, USA Steam Locomotive Museum, founded in 1964, but which lost a lot of popularity in the 1970s when the state of Vermont banned the operation of steam locomotives for environmental reasons. The museum was closed between 1984 and 1988 and was partially incorporated into the Steamtown National Historic Site in Pennsylvania. This route of the Green Mountain Railroad has been crossed by the Brattleboro – Windsor railway since 1849 . Between 1900 and 1924 there was also an overland tram to Saxtons River , a place in a side valley of the Connecticut River.

All school types through high school are available in Bellows Falls. Religious life takes place in the five churches of the parish (two Catholic churches, one Episcopal and one branch each of the Assemblies of God and the United Church of Christ ). The nearest hospital is in nearby Rockingham.

Population development

year	1800	1810	1820	1830	1840	1850	1860	1870	1880	1890
Residents								697	2229	3092
year	1900	1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990
Residents	4337	4883	4860	3930	4236	3881	3831	3505	3456	3313
year	2000	2010	2020	2030	2040	2050	2060	2070	2080	2090
Residents	3165	3148

Bellows Falls, Vermont census result

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

Bellows Falls is connected to continental road traffic by Interstate 5 and Vermont State Route 121 . The Green Mountain Railroad has not only set up a passenger station on the river island , but also its administrative headquarters. Amtrak's Vermonter runs here daily and connects Bellows Falls with New York City and Washington, DC

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

• Jennie Maria Arms Sheldon (1852-1938), entomologist
• Colleen Barrett (born 1944), President of Southwest Airlines
• Carlton Fisk (born 1947), former baseball player in Major League Baseball
• Ernest Thompson (* 1949), actor, director and Oscar-winning screenwriter
• Jay H. Gordon (1930–2007), politician, State Auditor from Vermont
• Thomas M. Salmon (born 1963), politician, State Auditor from Vermont

Personalities who have worked on site

• Thomas P. Salmon (born 1932), politician, governor of the state of Vermont.

Web links

Commons : Bellows Falls, Vermont  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

• City homepage (together with Rockingham; English)
• Bellows Falls Train Station Illustrated Website
• Entry at virtualvermont.com (English) ( Memento from March 26, 2017 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bellows Falls in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System , accessed November 25, 2017
2. ↑ Population data from the 2010 US Census in the American Factfinder
3. ^ Zadock Thompson: History of Vermont: natural, civil, and statistical, in three parts . 3rd volume. George H. Salisbury, Burlington 1842, p. 151 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
4. ↑ Population 1890–2010 according to census results