Westminster (Vermont, Town)

Westminster
Westminster Town Hall
Location in Vermont
Westminster
Basic data
Foundation :	November 9, 1752
State :	United States
State :	Vermont
County :	Windham County
Coordinates :	43 ° 5 ′  N , 72 ° 29 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 5 ′  N , 72 ° 29 ′  W
Time zone :	Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Residents :	3,178 (as of 2010)
Population density :	26.6 inhabitants per km 2
Area :	119.5 km 2  (approx. 46 mi 2 ) of which 119.3 km 2  (approx. 46 mi 2 ) is land
Height :	250 m
Postal code :	05158
Area code :	+1 802
FIPS :	50-81400
GNIS ID :	1462253
Website :	www.WestminsterVT.org

Westminster is a town in Windham County in the state of Vermont in the United States with a population of 3,178 (according to the 2010 census).

geography

Geographical location

Westminster is on the west bank of the Connecticut River on the border with the US state New Hampshire . The area of ​​the town is hilly, without large elevations. The highest is Wellington Hill with a height of 313 m. A few smaller rivers flow through the town, they all flow into the Connecticut River.

Neighboring communities

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

• North: Rockingham , 2 miles
• East: Walpole, NH , 7.1 miles
• Southeast: Westmoreland, NH , 5.8 mi
• South: Putney , 2.2 mi
• Southwest: Brookline , 7.2 mi
• Northwest: Athens , 6.4 mi

climate

The mean mean temperature in Westminster is between −7 ° C (19 ° Fahrenheit ) in January and 20.5 ° C (69 ° Fahrenheit) in July. The snowfall between October and May with a peak in January of 40 cm (16 inches) is around two meters, about twice as high as the mean snow depth in the USA. The daily sunshine duration is at the lower end of the range in the USA.

history

The parish is one of the four oldest towns in what is now Vermont. As early as 1734 it was founded along with three other areas along the east bank of the Connecticut River; at that time still under the name Township No. 1 (sometimes called New Taunton ) under the administration of the Massachusetts Bay Colony . The first permanent settlements did not come until 1751. On November 9, 1752, the town was again proclaimed as part of the New Hampshire Grants by Governor Benning Wentworth under the name Westminster ; this date is now the official founding date of the congregation.

In 1762 a royal decree established the Connecticut River as the border between the states of New York and New Hampshire. Then Westminster was added to the then already existing Cumberland County under the administration of New York. Since the New York governor did not recognize the land purchases made by the settlers in New Hampshire and, as in the other affected towns, demanded new, higher payments to the administration of New York, there were protracted uprisings in Westminster as well. During these uprisings, among other things, there was a storm on the courthouse, in which one man was killed and another seriously injured in 1775, the so-called Westminster Massacre . In the same court house, Vermont's independence was proclaimed as the Vermont Republic in January 1777 , which lasted until Vermont joined the Alliance of the United States of America in 1791.

Railway line in Westminster

After these events, the history of the community was much quieter. In 1851 the Brattleboro – Windsor railway reached the place and tied it with one of Vermont's two railway tunnels to the nearby railway junction Bellows Falls . Passenger traffic at Westminster Station was abandoned in 1966 and has not resumed since.

Population development

Census Results - Town of Westminster, Vermont
year	1700	1710	1720	1730	1740	1750	1760	1770	1780	1790
Residents										1601
year	1800	1810	1820	1830	1840	1850	1860	1870	1880	1890
Residents	1942	1925	1974	1737	1546	1721	1300	1238	1377	1265
year	1900	1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990
Residents	1295	1327	1289	1324	1403	1400	1602	1875	2493	3026
year	2000	2010	2020	2030	2040	2050	2060	2070	2080	2090
Residents	3210	3178

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

The Interstate 91 into a north-south direction along the western edge of the Town. US Highway 5 follows its course from Rockingham in the north to Putney in the south. An Amtrak station is located in Bellows Falls.

Public facilities

The Rockingham Memorial Hospital is located in Bellows Falls and the surrounding area the relevant hospital.

education

Westminster is part of the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union . Westminster is home to the Westminster Center School with school classes from kindergarten through sixth grade.

There are two public libraries in Westminster. The Butterfield Library on US Highway 5 is run by volunteers on the Westminster Board of Trustees. There is also the Westminster West Public Library on Westminster West Road. It was founded in 1870.

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

• William Czar Bradley (1782–1867), politician and member of the US House of Representatives
• George Edward Wales (1792–1860), politician and member of the US House of Representatives
• Edmund Burke (1809–1882), politician and member of the US House of Representatives
• Tara Correa-McMullen (1989-2005), actress

Personalities who have worked on site

• Stephen R. Bradley (1754-1830), politician and senator
• Mark Richards (1760–1844), politician and member of the US House of Representatives

literature

• Zadock Thompson: History of Vermont, natural, civil and statistical, in three parts . 3rd volume. Chauncey Goodrich, Burlington 1842, p. 187 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).

Web links

Commons : Westminster, Vermont  - collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Westminster in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System . Retrieved February 24, 2012
2. ↑ Population data from the 2010 US Census in the American Factfinder
3. ^ Wellington Hill . In: peakery.com . ( peakery.com ).
4. ↑ Coordinates of the locations of the Census Authority 2010
5. ↑ Westminster, Vermont (VT 05158) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news, sex offenders. In: city-data.com. www.city-data.com, accessed on February 26, 2017 (English). 
6. ^ Zadock Thompson: History of Vermont: natural, civil, and statistical, in three parts . 3rd volume. George H. Salisbury, Burlington 1842, p. 187 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
7. ↑ Description of the Westminster Massacre on the website of the Vermont Genealogical Society (English)
8. ↑ Population 1790–2010 according to the census results
9. ↑ WSESU - Schools. In: vt.us. www.wssu.k12.vt.us, accessed on February 26, 2017 . 
10. ^ Westminster Community Schools | A site for Westminster Community Schools. In: wnesu.org. Retrieved February 26, 2017 (American English). 
11. ^ Butterfield Library . ( westminstervt.org ).
12. ^ Westminster West Public Library . ( westminstervt.org ).
13. ^ Town Plan Westminster 2015 , accessed February 26, 2017