Village (Vermont)

In the U.S. state of Vermont, villages are named communities located within the boundaries of an incorporated town. Villages may be incorporated or unincorporated.

An incorporated village is a defined area within a town that was either granted a village charter by a special act of the legislature, or organized under the general law. Village governments are subordinate to the government of the town they belong to. A village is a clearly defined municipality and provides some municipal services, such as potable water, sewage, police and fire services, garbage collection, street lighting and maintenance, management of cemeteries, and building code enforcement. Other municipal services not provided by the village are provided by the parent town. Incorporated villages in Vermont are administratively similar to villages in New York. Vermont is the only state in New England that has incorporated villages.

Village government

Village officers include a clerk, five bailiffs/trustees, a treasurer, and a tax collector. The trustees have duties and powers similar to the selectmen of towns.

List of incorporated villages

As of 2011, there were 35 incorporated villages with active governments in Vermont. Historically, there were more but most have since disincorporated, while a few were chartered as cities. Below is a list of incorporated villages that have existed, ordered by date of incorporation. Currently existing villages are indicated in boldface.

Village	Parent town	Date incorporated	Current status
Middlebury	Middlebury	1816/1832	disincorporated 1955/1966
Montpelier	Montpelier	1818	chartered as city in 1894
Brattleboro	Brattleboro	1832	disincorporated 1927
Windsor	Windsor	1832	disincorporated 1967
Bellows Falls	Rockingham	1833	incorporated village
Springfield Center	Springfield	1835	disincorporated ?
Woodstock	Woodstock	1836	incorporated village
Rutland	Rutland	1847	chartered as city in 1892
Castleton	Castleton	1849	Incorporation rejected by voters
Bennington	Bennington	1849	disincorporated 1967/1970
St. Johnsbury	St. Johnsbury	1852	disincorporated 1965
West Poultney	Poultney	1852	Incorporation rejected by voters
Northfield	Northfield	1855	incorporated village
Wilmington	Wilmington	1855	disincorporated 1959/1965
St. Albans	St. Albans	1859	chartered as city in 1896
Newport	Newport	1862	chartered as city in 1917
Fair Haven	Fair Haven	1865	disincorporated 1955
Cabot	Cabot	1866	disincorporated 2010
North Bennington	Bennington	1866	incorporated village
Winooski	Colchester	1866	chartered as city in 1921
Ludlow	Ludlow	1866	incorporated village
Springfield	Springfield	1866	disincorporated 1947
Plainfield	Plainfield	1867	disincorporated 1984
Benson	Benson	1869	Incorporation rejected by voters
Danby	Danby	1874	Incorporation rejected by voters
Barton	Barton	1874	incorporated village
North Troy	Troy	1876	incorporated village
Richford	Richford	1878	disincorporated 1998
Orleans	Barton	1878	incorporated village
Randolph	Randolph	1880	disincorporated 1984
Lyndonville	Lyndon	1880	incorporated village
Waterbury	Waterbury	1882	incorporated village
Proctor	Proctor	1884	disincorporated 1967
Barre	Barre	1886	chartered as city in 1894
Enosburg Falls	Enosburgh	1886	incorporated village
Bristol	Bristol	1886/1903	disincorporated 1994
Brandon	Brandon	1888	disincorporated ?
Wells River	Newbury	1888	incorporated village
Swanton	Swanton	1888	incorporated village
Bradford	Bradford	1890	disincorporated 2004
Morrisville	Morristown	1890	incorporated village
Hardwick	Hardwick	1890	disincorporated 1988
Readsboro	Readsboro	1892	disincorporated 1986
Essex Junction	Essex	1892	incorporated village
Johnson	Johnson	1894	incorporated village
West Derby	Derby	1894	consolidated with Newport 1917
Hyde Park	Hyde Park	1895	incorporated village
Stowe	Stowe	1895	disincorporated 1996
Lyndon Center	Lyndon	1896	disincorporated ?
Jeffersonville	Cambridge	1896	incorporated village
Newbury	Newbury	1896/1904	incorporated village
Derby Center	Derby	1898	incorporated village
Derby Line	Derby	1898	incorporated village
Hinesburg	Hinesburg	1898	Incorporation rejected by voters
Lyndon	Lyndon	1899/1917	disincorporated 1951
Island Pond	Brighton	1900	Incorporation rejected by voters
Milton	Milton	1900	disincorporated 2003
Manchester	Manchester	1900	incorporated village
Old Bennington	Bennington	1900	incorporated village
Richmond	Richmond	1903	disincorporated 1989
West Concord	Concord	1902	Incorporation rejected by voters
West Burke	Burke	1902	incorporated village
Chester	Chester	1900/1906	disincorporated 1967
Concord	Concord	1904	disincorporated 1969
Cambridge	Cambridge	1904	incorporated village
Glover	Glover	1905	disincorporated 1973
Jacksonville	Whitingham	1904	incorporated village
Poultney	Poultney	1904	incorporated village
Saxtons River	Rockingham	1905	incorporated village
Groton	Groton	1907	inactive since 1965
Newfane	Newfane	1906	incorporated village
Proctorsville	Cavendish	1907	disincorporated 1987
Westminster	Westminster	1907	incorporated village
South Royalton	Royalton	1908	disincorporated ?
Halifax	Halifax	1908	Incorporation rejected by voters
Newport Center	Newport	1908	disincorporated 1931
South Ryegate	Ryegate	1908	disincorporated ?
West Glover	Glover	1910	disincorporated 1973
Marshfield	Marshfield	1910	incorporated village
Pittsford	Pittsford	1912	disincorporated 1988
Albany	Albany	1915	incorporated village
South Shaftsbury	Shaftsbury	1915	Incorporation rejected by voters
Alburgh	Alburgh	1916	incorporated village
Townshend	Townshend	1916	inactive since 1961
West Barnet	Barnet	1922	disincorporated 1961
North Westminster	Westminster	1925	disincorporated 2010
Perkinsville	Weathersfield	1928	incorporated village
Jericho	Jericho	1933	incorporated village
Essex Center	Essex	1949	disincorporated 1977

References

• E.T. Howe, "Vermont Incorporated Villages: A Vanishing Institution", Vermont History 73, 16 (2005).
• D.G. Sanford, Vermont Municipalities: an index to their charters and special acts, (Vermont Office of Secretary of State, 1986).
• J.S. Garland, New England town law: a digest of statutes and decisions concerning towns and town officers, (Boston Book Co., Boston, 1906).
• Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh edition (1911), accessed through 1911encyclopedia.org.
• Vermont Statutes Online, Title 24 and 24 Appendix
• U.S. Census Bureau, Census of population, data for 1930–2000.