Editing Wilder, Vermont (section)

==History==
The village, originally known as Olcott Falls, is unique as an early [[planned community]] developed in part by Charles Wilder, owner of a local [[paper mill]] in the 1880s.<ref name=townofhartford>{{cite web|url=http://www.hartford-vt.org/content/wilder/|title=Town of Hartford website|website=hartford-vt.org}}</ref><ref name=Gateway>[http://www.hartfordhistory.org/gateway.pdf The Gateway of Vermont: Hartford and its Villages], c. 1904, reproduced by the Hartford Historical Society, 2004</ref>  One feature of Wilder's plan was an orderly street plan in which streets were laid out at right angles,<ref name=Gateway/> with several of the streets named after trees. The village was renamed in honor of Charles Wilder in 1897.<ref name=HartfordHistory1999>{{cite web|url=http://www.hartfordhistory.org/12103.html?*session*id*key*=*session*id*val*|title=Hartford (Vermont) Historical Society|website=www.hartfordhistory.org}}</ref>

As of the earliest years of the 20th century, the local paper mill was operated by [[International Paper]] and Wilder boasted a railroad station, a [[post office]], several retail stores, and electric [[street light]]ing. An iron bridge contributed by Charles Wilder spanned the Connecticut River at Wilder.<ref name=Gateway/> The bridge, the paper mill, and the dam that supplied power to the mill were all demolished in 1950 for the construction of Wilder Dam.<ref name=HartfordHistory1999/>

The Wilder Village Historic District was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1999.<ref name=townofhartford/> The district covers {{convert|40|acre|km2}}<ref name="nris"/> and contains 203 [[contributing property|contributing resources]]. It includes examples of [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne]] and [[Colonial Revival style]] architecture with houses dating from the late 19th century to the 1950s.<ref name="nris"/>  It encompasses the main surviving portions of Wilder's planned community, and is roughly bounded on the north by Chestnut Street, the east by Passumpsic Avenue, the south by Horseshoe Avenue, and the west by Hartford Avenue ([[United States Route 5]]). This area is largely residential, with only a few commercial buildings and the local public library among the exceptions.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|99001396}}|title=NRHP nomination for Wilder Village Historic District|publisher=[[National Park Service]] |author=Lisa Mausolf |date=1999|access-date=2016-09-11}} with {{NRHP url|id=99001396|photos=y|title=photos from 1999}}</ref>