Editing Marlboro, Vermont (section)

==History==

Named "New Marlborough" for the [[Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]] until 1800,<ref name=brief>[http://marlboro.vt.us/groups/historical_society "Brief History of Marlboro"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421195148/http://marlboro.vt.us/groups/historical_society |date=April 21, 2012 }} on the Marlboro Historical Society website</ref> the town was a [[New Hampshire grants|New Hampshire grant]] chartered on April 29, 1751, to Timothy Dwight and 64 others from [[Northampton, Massachusetts|Northampton]], [[Massachusetts]] and vicinity.  The [[French and Indian War]] prevented settlement, so the first charter was forfeited and a new one issued<ref name=brief /> by Governor [[Benning Wentworth]] on September 21, 1761, then again on April 17, 1764, as New Marlborough.  The town was surveyed in 1762, and 64 equal "rights" (divisions) were created, with four lots in the center of town excepted.<ref name=brief /> First settled in 1763,<ref name=brief /><ref>[http://newenglandtowns.org/vermont/marlborough Hayward's ''New England Gazetteer of 1839'']</ref> the town grew rapidly between 1764 and 1770 with emigrants from Massachusetts and [[Connecticut]].<ref>Coolidge, Austin J. & Mansfield, John B. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&dq=coolidge%20mansfield%20history%20description%20new%20england%201859&pg=PA841 ''A History and Description of New England''] Boston, Massachusetts(1859)</ref>  By 1799 there were 313 children registered in the town's schools.<ref name=brief />

The town's population peaked in 1820 with 1300 people, the subsequent decline caused by immigration to the west and a downturn in the area's economy.<ref name=brief /> Although the [[terrain]] is mountainous, the soil is rich and deep, which allowed [[farmer]]s to grow good crops. When the population was 896 in 1859, the community was almost exclusively [[agriculture|agricultural]].<ref>Newton, Ephriam Holland. [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vtwindha/vhg5/marlboro.htm "Marlboro"] ''Vermont Historical Gazetteer'' Brandon, Vermont (1891)</ref>

===Town Common===

[[Image:View of Marlboro, VT.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The Town Common in 1908]]
[[File:Marlboro Town House side view.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The Town House, used for town meetings, was built in 1822, and later moved to its current location]]

Located on the Town Common are the Town House (1822), used for town meetings, the Town Offices and Post Office building (1969), the Marlboro Meeting House Congregational Church (1931), and the Whetstone Inn ({{circa|1775}}).

The town's first church was organized in 1776, and put up at the top of Town Hill in 1778. In 1820, it was replaced by a newer structure nearby, and timbers and board from the old church were used in 1822 to build the Town House, which was also located in the vicinity. Between 1836 and 1844 both of these buildings—the church and the Town House—were moved down the hill to about their current locations on the Town Common. The church burned down in 1931 was replaced by the current one, which is roughly a reproduction of its predecessor, except slightly smaller.<ref name=brief />

After the move down the hill, Town House was on the east side of South Road, but when it was hit by a new, oversized snow plow in 1966, it was moved across the road to its current location.<ref>Interview with Forrest Holzapfel, Town Historian, April 1912</ref>

The Whetstone Inn was built around 1775 by Deacon Jonas Whitney, who arrived in Marlboro in 1773.  Over its history, it has been various used as a courthouse, church, tavern, dance hall and post office.<ref name=brief />

=== 20th century ===
In 1946, [[Marlboro College]] was founded on the site of three farms<ref name=college>[http://www.marlboro.edu/about/history/ "Marlboro College Through the Years"] on the Marlboro College website</ref> by Walter Hendricks, for returning [[World War II]] [[veterans]],<ref>[http://www.virtualvermont.com/towns/marlboro.html "Marlboro, Vermont"] on the Virtual Vermont website</ref> with poet [[Robert Frost]] as its first trustee.<ref name=college /> The [[Marlboro Music School and Festival]], founded in 1951, is held each summer on the Potash Hill campus.<ref name=brief />

=== 21st century ===
In 2006, Marlboro was one of the first American towns to have its citizens pass a resolution [[movement to impeach George W. Bush|endorsing the impeachment of]] President [[George W. Bush]], and in 2011 it was one of thirteen Vermont towns isolated by flooding caused by [[Hurricane Irene (2011)|Hurricane Irene]].<ref>Cooper, Michael. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/us/31floods.html "Floodwaters From Storm Isolate 13 Vermont Towns"], ''[[New York Times]]'' (August 30, 2011)</ref>{{clear left}}

{{US Census population
|align=left
|1790= 629
|1800= 1087
|1810= 1245
|1820= 1296
|1830= 1218
|1840= 1027
|1850= 896
|1860= 741
|1870= 665
|1880= 553
|1890= 495
|1900= 448
|1910= 442
|1920= 300
|1930= 255
|1940= 225
|1950= 311
|1960= 347
|1970= 592
|1980= 695
|1990= 924
|2000= 978
|2010= 1078
|2020= 1722
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=May 16, 2015}}</ref>
}}