List of counties in Vermont

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Counties of Vermont
LocationState of Vermont
Number14
Populations5,920 (Essex) – 168,323 (Chittenden)
Areas83 square miles (210 km2) (Grand Isle) – 971 square miles (2,510 km2) (Windsor)
Government
  • County government
Subdivisions
  • Cities, towns, villages, unincorporated communities

There are fourteen counties in the U.S. state of Vermont. These counties together contain 255 political units, or places, including 237 towns, 9 cities, 5 unincorporated areas, and 4 gores. Each county has a county seat, often referred to as a "shire town." In 1779, Vermont had two counties. The western side of the state was called Bennington County and the eastern was called Cumberland County.[1] In 1781, Cumberland County was separated into three counties in Vermont plus another county named Washington (not the same as the modern Washington County) that eventually became part of New Hampshire. Today's Washington County was known as Jefferson County from its creation in 1810 until it was renamed in 1814. Essex County, Orleans County, and Caledonia County are commonly referred to as the Northeast Kingdom.

The FIPS county code is the five-digit Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code which uniquely identifies counties and county equivalents in the United States. The three-digit number is unique to each individual county within a state, but to be unique within the entire United States, it must be prefixed by the state code. This means that, for example, while Addison County, Vermont is 001, Belknap County, New Hampshire and Alachua County, Florida are also 001. To uniquely identify Addison County, Vermont, one must use the state code of 50 plus the county code of 001; therefore, the unique nationwide identifier for Addison County, Vermont is 50001. The links in the column FIPS County Code are to the Census Bureau Info page for that county.[2]

List[]

County
 FIPS code[2] Shire town[3] Est.[3] Origin[4] Etymology[4] Population[5] Area[3][6] Map
Addison County 001 Middlebury 1785 Part of Rutland County. Joseph Addison (1672–1719), an English politician and writer. 37,363 770 sq mi
(1,994 km2)		 State map highlighting Addison County
Bennington County 003 Bennington,
Manchester		 1779 One of the original two counties. Benning Wentworth (1696–1770), the colonial governor of New Hampshire (1741–1766). 37,347 676 sq mi
(1,751 km2)		 State map highlighting Bennington County
Caledonia County 005 St. Johnsbury 1792 Part of Orange County. Latin name for Scotland. 30,233 651 sq mi
(1,686 km2)		 State map highlighting Caledonia County
Chittenden County 007 Burlington 1787 Part of Addison County. Thomas Chittenden (1730–1797), first governor of Vermont (1791–1797). 168,323 539 sq mi
(1,396 km2)		 State map highlighting Chittenden County
Essex County 009 Guildhall 1792 Part of Orange County. Essex, a county in England. 5,920 665 sq mi
(1,722 km2)		 State map highlighting Essex County
Franklin County 011 St. Albans (city) 1792 Part of Chittenden County. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), one of the most revered Founding Fathers of the United States. 49,946 637 sq mi
(1,650 km2)		 State map highlighting Franklin County
Grand Isle County 013 North Hero 1802 Part of Chittenden County and Franklin County. Largest island in Lake Champlain. 7,293 83 sq mi
(215 km2)		 State map highlighting Grand Isle County
Lamoille County 015 Hyde Park (town) 1835 Parts of Chittenden County, Franklin County, Orleans County and Washington County. La Mouette (meaning the seagull), named by French explorer Samuel de Champlain (~1570–1635) but mistranscibed as La Mouelle and eventually corrupted to current spelling. 25,945 461 sq mi
(1,194 km2)		 State map highlighting Lamoille County
Orange County 017 Chelsea 1781 Part of Cumberland County. Prince William (1650–1702) of Orange. 29,277 689 sq mi
(1,785 km2)		 State map highlighting Orange County
Orleans County 019 Newport (city) 1792 Part of Chittenden County and Orange County. City of Orléans, France. 27,393 697 sq mi
(1,805 km2)		 State map highlighting Orleans County
Rutland County 021 Rutland (city) 1781 Part of Bennington County. Town of Rutland, Massachusetts. 60,572 932 sq mi
(2,414 km2)		 State map highlighting Rutland County
Washington County 023 Montpelier 1810 Parts of Orange County, Caledonia County, and Chittenden County. George Washington (1732–1799), first President of the United States (1789–1797). 59,807 690 sq mi
(1,787 km2)		 State map highlighting Washington County
Windham County 025 Newfane 1779[a]
(as Cumberland County)
(renamed 1781)		 One of the original two counties. Town of Windham, Connecticut. 45,905 789 sq mi
(2,044 km2)		 State map highlighting Windham County
Windsor County 027 Woodstock 1781 Part of Cumberland County. Town of Windsor, Connecticut. 57,753 971 sq mi
(2,515 km2)		 State map highlighting Windsor County

See also[]

Notes[]

  • a There are several sources that state the formation year for Windham County is 1781 and that Cumberland County was dissolved rather than renamed.[7]

References[]

  1. ^ "Vermont County Information". Genealogy Trails. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  2. ^ a b "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA. Archived from the original on 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  3. ^ a b c "NACo - Find a county". National Association of Counties. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  4. ^ a b Kane, Joseph & Aiken, Charles (2004). The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, and Population Data, 1950-2000. Scarecrow Press. p. 1. ISBN 0-8108-5036-2. Retrieved September 11, 2016. Origins of County Names.
  5. ^ "Vermont QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 16, 2021. (2020 Census)
  6. ^ "Vermont QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved September 11, 2016. (2010 Census)
  7. ^ "Vermont: Consolidated Chronology of State and County Boundaries". The Newberry Library. 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2009-06-03.

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