Newbury (town), Vermont
Encyclopedia
New England town
The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...
in Orange County, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 1,955 at the 2000 census. Newbury includes the villages of Newbury
Newbury (village), Vermont
Newbury is an incorporated village in the town of Newbury in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 396 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, Center Newbury, West Newbury, South Newbury, Boltonville, Peach Four Corners, and Wells River
Wells River, Vermont
Wells River is a village in the town of Newbury in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 325 at the 2000 census. The village center is located at the junction of U.S...
.
History
Located at the Great OxbowMeander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
of the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
, with vast tracts of beautiful and fertile intervale, the area was a favorite of the Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. Rivers teemed with salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
and brooks with trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
. Prior to European settlement, the Newbury area was the location of a village called Cowass or Cowassuck of the Pennacook
Pennacook
The Pennacook, also known by the names Merrimack and Pawtucket, were a North American people that primarily inhabited the Merrimack River valley of present-day New Hampshire and Massachusetts, as well as portions of southern Maine...
tribe. It was first settled by English colonists in 1762 by Samuel Sleeper and family. One of the New Hampshire grants
New Hampshire Grants
The New Hampshire Grants or Benning Wentworth Grants were land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by the provincial governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The land grants, totaling about 135 , were made on land claimed by New Hampshire west of the Connecticut River, territory that was also...
, Newbury was chartered by Governor Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.-Biography:The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715...
on March 18, 1763 to General Jacob Bayley and 74 others, some from Newbury
Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,666 at the 2010 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town , Plum Island and Byfield, home of The Governor's Academy , a private preparatory school.- History :Newbury Plantation was settled and incorporated...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
The town served as the southern terminus of the Bayley Hazen Military Road
Bayley Hazen Military Road
The Bayley–Hazen Military Road was a military road that was originally planned to run from Newbury, Vermont to St. John's, Quebec, not far from Montreal. , running from Newbury to Hazens Notch near the Canadian border, were constructed between 1776 and 1779 during the American Revolutionary War...
, begun by Bayley in 1760 and then continued until 1779 by Colonel Moses Hazen
Moses Hazen
Moses Hazen was a Brigadier General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, he saw action in the French and Indian War with Rogers' Rangers. His service included particularly brutal raids during the Expulsion of the Acadians and...
. Meanwhile, pioneer farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s had to carry their grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
60 miles (97 kilometers) by canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
to Charlestown
Charlestown, New Hampshire
Charlestown is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,114 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Hubbard State Forest and the headquarters of the Student Conservation Association....
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
to get it ground into flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
. By 1859, when the population was 2,984, Newbury had two gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
s, in addition to a paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
and steam mill to manufacture mackerel
Mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...
kits. The principal industry, however, along the alluvial meadows was raising beef cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
and sheep, and the production of wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
and dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
goods. The Connecticut & Passumpsic Rivers Railroad opened on November 6, 1848 to the village of Wells River. It developed as an adjunct of the railway town
Railway town
A railway town is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of a railway station or junction at its site.In Victorian Britain, the spread of railways greatly affected the fate of many small towns...
across the Connecticut River at Woodsville
Woodsville, New Hampshire
Woodsville is a census-designated place in the town of Haverhill in Grafton County, New Hampshire, U.S., along the Connecticut River at the mouth of the Ammonoosuc River. The population was 1,126 at the 2010 census...
, the once bustling village within Haverhill, New Hampshire
Haverhill, New Hampshire
Haverhill is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,697 at the 2010 census. Haverhill includes the villages of Woodsville, Pike, and North Haverhill, the historic town center at Haverhill Corner, and the district of Mountain Lakes...
.
Boston University, one of New England's largest universities, traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute, a Methodist school founded in Newbury, Vermont in 1839.
Geography
The Town of Newbury is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 64.4 square miles (166.9 km2), of which 64.2 square miles (166.2 km2) is land and 0.3 square mile (0.7 km2) (0.40%) is water. Bounded on the east by the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
, Newbury is drained by the Wells River
Wells River (Vermont)
The Wells River is a river, approximately long, in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River.The Wells River begins at the outlet of Ricker Pond at the southern boundary of Groton State Forest in the town of Groton. The river flows generally southeast through the...
, Halls Brook and Peach Brook.
The town is crossed by
Interstate 91Interstate 91
Interstate 91 is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of New England...
,
U.S. Route 5, and 
U.S. Route 302.Neighboring cities and towns
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 1,955 people, 816 households, and 553 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 30.5 people per square mile (11.8/km2). There were 1,153 housing units at an average density of 18.0/sq mi (6.9/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 97.44% White, 0.31% Black or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.66% Native American, 0.20% Asian, and 1.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.15% of the population.
There were 816 households out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the town the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $32,721, and the median income for a family was $42,262. Males had a median income of $30,169 versus $21,780 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $17,659. About 8.6% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.3% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.
Sites of interest
- Bayley Historic District
- Bedell Covered Bridge siteBedell Covered BridgeThe Bedell Bridge was a Burr truss covered bridge that spanned the Connecticut River between Newbury, Vermont and Haverhill, New Hampshire. Until its most recent destruction in 1979, it was the second longest covered bridge in the United States.- History :...
- Camp FarwellCamp FarwellCamp Farwell is a summer camp for girls in Newbury, Vermont on Halls Lake. Founded in 1906 by Julia Farwell, it may be the longest running all girls camp in the United States....
, founded in 1906, and reported to be the longest running girls summer camp in the United States. - Newbury Historical Society & Museum
- Newbury Town House (1839)
- Oxbow Historic District
- Newbury General Store, c.1840
Notable people
- Frank M. BryanFrank M. BryanFrank M. Bryan is the John G. McCullough Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont. He is a noted local scholar, author and humorist, having written and co-written over ten books and numerous articles....
, political scientist - Ernest N. HarmonErnest N. HarmonErnest Nason Harmon was a United States Army general. He is best known for his actions in reorganizing U.S. II Corps after the debacle at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass in North Africa during World War II....
, major general. - Jeremiah IngallsJeremiah IngallsJeremiah Ingalls was born Andover, Massachusetts March 1, 1764 and died in Hancock, Vermont, April 6, 1838. He was one of the first American composers, and is considered among the First New England School.-Biography:...
, early American folk composer. - Henry KeyesHenry KeyesHenry Keyes was a prominent politician and railroad executive from Vermont. He was a state senator and was a candidate for governor of Vermont three times. He also served as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.In 1825 he moved to Newbury, Vermont, where he preferred to stay as...
, politician and railroad president. - Henry W. KeyesHenry W. KeyesHenry Wilder Keyes was an American farmer, banker, and Republican politician from Haverhill, New Hampshire. Born in 1863 in Newbury, Vermont, he was raised in New Hampshire. His father was a prominent New England farmer, merchant, and railroad investor. Keyes graduated from Harvard with a B.A...
, senator and governor of New Hampshire. - William T. PorterWilliam T. PorterWilliam Trotter Porter was an American journalist and newspaper editor who founded an early American newspaper devoted to sports. After working at a number of small newspapers, Porter moved to New York City in the 1830s...
, journalist. - George W. WebberGeorge W. WebberGeorge Washington Webber was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Webber was born in Newbury, Vermont. His father, Andrew Webber, moved his family to Steuben County, New York in 1828 and engaged in farming. George Webber attended the common schools there and the academy at Alfred, New York...
, congressman.
Further reading
- Frederic P. Wells, History of Newbury, Vermont; The Caledonian Company, St. Johnsbury, Vermont 1902
- Site on General Jacob Bayley, founder of Newbury, Vermont