Chester (Vermont)

Chester
View of the Stone Village, listed in the NRHP
Location in Vermont
Chester
Basic data
Foundation :	February 22, 1754
State :	United States
State :	Vermont
County :	Windsor County
Coordinates :	43 ° 17 ′  N , 72 ° 38 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 17 ′  N , 72 ° 38 ′  W
Time zone :	Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Residents :	3,154 (as of 2010)
Population density :	21.9 inhabitants per km 2
Area :	144.8 km 2  (approx. 56 mi 2 ) of which 144.2 km 2  (approx. 56 mi 2 ) is land
Height :	260 m
Postal code :	05143
Area code :	+1 802
FIPS :	50-13675
GNIS ID :	1462070
Website :	www.chester.govoffice.com

Chester is a town in Windsor County , Vermont , United States with 3,154 residents (2010 census).

geography

Geographical location

The town is located on the east side of the Green Mountains in the foothills west of the Connecticut River . It has two settlement centers, Chester Village in the south and Chester Depot in the north, which are about 1.5 kilometers apart. Both districts have almost grown together for years. The most important watercourse is the Williams River ; the local mountain of the twin town is also the highest point in the town: Mount Flamstead at 344 m (1129 feet).

Neighboring communities

All distances are given as straight lines between the official coordinates of the places from the 2010 census.

• North: Cavendish , 3.1 miles
• North: Baltimore , 5.1 mi
• Northeast: Weathersfield , 10.3 mi
• East: Springfield , 10 miles
• Southeast: Rockingham , 8.7 mi
• South: Grafton , 2.3 mi
• Southwest: Windham , 5.5 mi
• West: Andover , 6.5 mi
• Northwest: Ludlow , 5.7 mi

climate

Average monthly temperatures for Chester, Vermont Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) -1.7 -0.1 4.6 12.0 18.9 23.9 26.2 25.2 20.9 14.2 7.6 0.9 O 12.8 Min. Temperature (° C) -11.7 -11.7 -5.9 0.9 6.3 11.2 13.8 13.2 8.8 2.3 -2.3 -8.3 O 1.4 Source: www.weatherbase.com

The mean average temperature in Chester is between -6.7 ° C in January and 20.1 ° C in July, with an annual mean of 7.1 ° C. This means that the place is about 1 degree warmer than Vermont's long-term mean. The snowfall between October and May is up to 45 cm (about 17.5 inches) in January, about twice the mean snow depth in the United States. The daily sunshine duration is at the lower end of the range in the USA.

history

The area was first declared for settlement under the name Flamstead on February 22, 1754 by Benning Wentworth . However, in the course of the conflict with the state of New York, which the area after a decree of the English King George III. of July 26, 1764 also claimed for himself, informed the settlers on July 14, 1766 that the country now belongs to the state of New York and will be run under the name Chester with changed external borders. This provision was accepted; the community thus belonged to New York; a second proclamation by New Hampshire on November 3, 1766, this time under the name New Flamstead , had no effect . On July 3, 1766, the - now defunct - County Cumberland was established by New York; Chester was designated as the administrative seat, but it was moved to Westminster in 1772 . The first city assembly took place in 1767, the first church was consecrated in 1773. It was not until part of the independent Vermont Republic that Chester returned to the borders of 1761, but kept the name Chester .

Before the railway lines were built, the southern village was the intersection of two stagecoach lines (Boston - Montreal and Hanover - Albany). Due to the well-developed roads, the town had developed through the Green Mountains as the most important traffic route from the east coast to New York. The town profited from this fact, as can be seen from the large number of shops, especially in the southern village: for 1840 there are two taverns, a cabinet maker, two grocery stores, two in addition to a saddler, two farriers and a wagon wheel manufacturer Krämer, a post office, a clothing store, a hat shop, two tool shops and even three lawyers occupied - for a place with around 60 houses. Between 1814 and 1876 there was a higher education institution, the Chester Academy , in addition to almost 20 primary schools .

The valley of the Williams River was followed by the Bellows Falls – Burlington railway line , which was built from 1847 and opened in 1849. Chester received a station which was used by passenger trains until 1953; until the end of the train service in 1961 only freight trains drove on the route. With the founding of the Steamtown Steam Engine Museum in Bellows Falls in 1964 , Chesters station was occasionally used by passenger trains again. The Victorian cityscape and the stone houses of the Stone Village , built from 1834 onwards , quickly turned out to be a tourist attraction, which the residents saw as an opportunity: today the city is a classic tourist destination in Vermont. When the steam locomotive museum closed in 1984, the locomotives were relocated and steam operation in Vermont was banned for environmental reasons, the Green Mountain Flyer tourist train was not stopped, but switched to diesel locomotive operation and the route was extended. Since then, the scheduled excursion train has started in North Walpole , New Hampshire. The proximity of three winter sports centers (on Mount Snow , Okemo and Killington (Vermont) ) extends the tourist season to the whole year.

Since the mid-1980s, two single houses and two building ensembles, including the Stone Village , have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places .

Religions

There are four parishes: two parishes of the Episcopal Church , one Roman Catholic and one parish of the United Church of Christ .

Population development

Census Results - Town of Chester, Vermont
year	1700	1710	1720	1730	1740	1750	1760	1770	1780	1790
Residents										981
year	1800	1810	1820	1830	1840	1850	1860	1870	1880	1890
Residents	1878	2370	2493	2320	2305	2001	2126	2052	1901	1787
year	1900	1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990
Residents	1775	1784	1633	1666	1740	1981	2318	2371	2791	2832
year	2000	2010	2020	2030	2040	2050	2060	2070	2080	2090
Residents	3044	3154

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

The city is connected to the road network by Vermont State Route 103 , which runs from Rockingham to Rutland and runs through the Williams River valley and the main town, and Vermont State Route 11 , which crosses the 103 in Chester Village . The Hartness State Airport in Springfield is located nine kilometers as the crow flies.

Public facilities

There are no public facilities in Chester other than the usual municipal offices. The closest hospital is Springfield Hospital in Springfield .

education

Chester is part of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union with Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish, Ludlow, Mt. Holly and Plymouth .

The village has a six-class elementary school with around 300 students, the Chester-Andover Elementary School , which is operated together with the neighboring town of Andover. A high school with around 400 students, Green Mountain Union High School , offers grades 7 to 12. The nearest college is Keene State College in Keen in the neighboring state of New Hampshire, the nearest university, Franklin Pierce University , is in Rindge , also in New Hampshire.

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

• Waitstill R. Ranney (1791-1853), physician, politician, and Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
• Fernando C. Beaman (1814–1882), politician and member of the US House of Representatives
• Franklin Edson (1832–1904), politician and Mayor of New York City
• Melvin Baldwin (1838–1901), politician and member of the US House of Representatives
• Donald J. Cram (1919-2001), Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Personalities who have worked on site

• Thomas Chandler junior (1740–1798), politician and judge
• Anna Dewdney (1965–2016), children's author and illustrator
• Aaron Leland (1761–1832), politician and Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. He founded the Baptist Church in Chester.

literature

• Zadock Thompson: History of Vermont, natural, civil and statistical, in Three Parts . Part 3. Chauncey Goodrich, Burlington 1842, p. 52 ff . ( Digitized version ).

Web links

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

• Homepage of the municipality (English)
• Profile of the municipality on the official portal www.Vermont.gov
• Entry on VirtualVermont (English) ( Memento from March 26, 2017 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chester in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System , accessed October 1, 2014
2. ↑ Population data from the 2010 US Census in the American Factfinder
3. ↑ Entry at Peakery.com (English)
4. ↑ Coordinates of the locations of the Census Authority 2010
5. ↑ Climate data at www.City-Data.com (English)
6. ↑ Brief history of the city on the official website ( Memento of the original from January 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 25 kB) 
7. ↑ Population 1790–2010 according to the census results
8. ^ Two Rivers Supervisory Union , accessed June 11, 2017
9. ↑ Homepage of the Chester-Andover Elementary School (English)
10. ↑ Homepage of the Green Mountain Union High School (English)