Editing Charleston, Vermont

{{Other uses|Charleston (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
<!-- Infobox begins. Additional parameter fields maybe available at Template:Infobox settlement -->
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Charleston, Vermont
|other_name               =
|native_name              = <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
|nickname                 =
|settlement_type          = Town
|motto                    =
|image_skyline            = East Charleston Plymouth Congregational Church.jpg
|imagesize                = 200px
|image_caption            = The Plymouth Congregational Church on [[Vermont Route 105|VT Rte 105]] in East Charleston
|image_flag               =
|flag_size                =
|image_seal               =
|seal_size                =
|image_shield             =
|shield_size              =
|image_blank_emblem       =
|blank_emblem_size        =
|image_map                = charleston_vt_highlight.png
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Located in Orleans County, Vermont
|image_map1               = Map of USA VT.svg
|mapsize1                 = 195px
|map_caption1             = Location of Vermont with the U.S.A.
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Vermont]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Vermont|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Orleans County, Vermont|Orleans]]
|subdivision_type3        =
|subdivision_name3        =
|subdivision_type4        =
|subdivision_name4        =
|parts_type               = Communities
|parts                    = {{ubl|[[East Charleston, Vermont|East Charleston]]|[[West Charleston, Vermont|West Charleston]]}}
|government_footnotes     =
|government_type          =
|leader_title             =
|leader_name              =
|leader_title1            = <!-- for places with, say, both a mayor and a city manager -->
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|leader_title4            =
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|established_title        = Chartered
|established_date         = November 10, 1780
|area_magnitude           =
|unit_pref                =  Imperial
|area_footnotes           =
|area_total_km2           = 100.0
|area_land_km2            = 97.1
|area_water_km2           = 2.9
|area_total_sq_mi         = 38.6
|area_land_sq_mi          = 37.5
|area_water_sq_mi         = 1.1
|area_water_percent       =
|population_as_of         = 2020
|population_footnotes     =
|population_note          =
|population_total         = 1021
|population_density_km2   = 10.5
|population_density_sq_mi = 
|population_blank1_title          = Households
|population_blank1                = 362
|population_blank2_title          = Families
|population_blank2                = 26123.9
|timezone                 = [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = [[Eastern Daylight Time|EDT]]
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|coordinates              = {{coord|44|50|30|N|72|0|47|W|region:US-VT|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes      = <!--for references: use <ref> </ref> tags-->
|elevation_m              = 358
|elevation_ft             = 1196
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP Code]]s
|postal_code              = 05833 ([[East Charleston, Vermont|East&nbsp;Charleston]])<br/>05872&nbsp;([[West Charleston, Vermont|West&nbsp;Charleston]])<br/>05846 ([[Island Pond, Vermont|Island&nbsp;Pond]])
|area_code                = [[Area code 802|802]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 50-13150<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 1462067<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=October 25, 2007}}</ref>
|website                  =
|footnotes                =
}}
<!-- Infobox ends -->

'''Charleston''' is a [[Vermont municipality|town]] in [[Orleans County, Vermont|Orleans County]], [[Vermont]], United States. The population was 1,021 at the [[2020 United States Census|2020 census]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0600000US5001913150|title=Census - Geography Profile: Charlestown town, Orleans County, Vermont|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref> The town contains two unincorporated villages: East Charleston and West Charleston.

==Local government==

===Town===

* Selectboard – Patrick Austin, Peter Moskovites, Tim Jenness<ref>{{cite web |title=Selectboard |url=https://charlestonvt.org/departments/selectboard/ |website=Charleston VT {{!}} East and West |publisher=CharlestonVT.org |access-date=December 27, 2023}}</ref>
* Town Clerk – Teri Gray
* Town Budget – $1,000,234

The proposed budget of $1,000,234, $935,659 of which was allocated to road maintenance, cemetery maintenance, and selectboard operations was approved at the town meeting March 7, 2023.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Besaw |first1=Ryan |title=2023 Town and School Meeting Results |url=https://charlestonvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-Charleston-Town-and-School-Meeting-Results.pdf |website=Charleston VT {{!}} East and West |publisher=CharlestonVT.org |access-date=December 27, 2023}}</ref>

===School District===

* Member, [[North Country Union High School]] Board – Peter Moscovites
* School Board Chair – Nancy Tessier
* Member, School Board – Jason Brueck, East Charleston; Bill McMaster (2009)
* Number of students – 100 (current and projected)
* Number of students in 2004 – 128
* School Budget for 2023 – $2,664,868

The Elementary school had 70% of the students qualified for free or reduced lunches. This was the highest percentage in the county in 2011.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Tina | last=Starr | title=Student test scores released by state | newspaper=[[The Chronicle (Barton, Vermont)|The Chronicle]] | location=Barton, Vermont | pages= 14 | date=February 16, 2011 }}</ref>

==History==

Native [[Abenakis]] told of how a large pond "ran away" similar to [[Runaway Pond]] in the 1780s before the area was explored by the descendants of Europeans.<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.com/~vtorlean/orl_hist.htm Charleston History on rootsweb.com] accessed March 14, 2008</ref>

[[Commodore (United States)|Commodore]] [[Abraham Whipple]] was given a grant to the town, along with 50–60 of his shipmates. He called it "Navy". Abner Allen, from [[Barton, Vermont]], was the first settler in 1803.<ref>
{{Cite news|url=http://www.virtualvermont.com/towns/charleston.html|title=Charleston, Vermont, New England USA - Virtual Vermont|date=August 15, 2018|work=Virtual Vermont|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1825, the town of Navy changed its name to Charleston, presumably after a naval battle that had occurred off [[Charleston, South Carolina]].

During the Civil War Charleston furnished 121 enlisted men, 35 of whom were killed in action or died from the effects of wounds or disease contracted while in the service.<ref name=Child>Gazetteer of Lamoille and Orleans Counties, VT.; 1883-1884, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child; May 1887</ref>

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the town had a number of mills. The population hit a high of 1700.

A [[round barn]] (not uncommon for the time and place) was erected in Charleston in 1908.  It was possibly the largest such structure in New England.<ref>{{cite book | author = Northwoods Stewardship Center |title = Land use, sense of place, are topics of programs | publisher = the Chronicle | date = October 8, 2008}}</ref> The barn burned to the ground in 1918, though the large stone foundation can still be seen along the Ten Mile Square Road.<ref>(unpublished- NorthWoods Stewardship Center)- "On the Banks of the Clyde: A Land Use and Cultural History of the NorthWoods Stewardship Center"</ref>

A series of fires destroyed East Charleston May 18, 1921, and West Charleston on the following day.<ref>{{cite book | author = Creaser, Richard |title = Up in flames is new exhibit at Old Stone House | publisher = the Chronicle | date = June 20, 2007}}</ref>

==Geography==

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of 38.6&nbsp;square miles (100.0&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), of which 37.5&nbsp;square miles (97.1&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) is land and 1.1&nbsp;square miles (2.9&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) (2.93%) is water.

The [[Clyde River (Vermont)#Charleston|Clyde River]] is the largest stream in the town. It flows into Charleston, in a northwesterly direction nearly through its center. Falls are found on the river, especially in the western part of town, where it drops more than {{convert|100|ft|m|0}} in {{convert|660|ft|m|0}}, but its current is generally slow.

[[Echo Lake (Charleston, Vermont)|Echo Lake]], situated in the easterly part of the town, receives the waters of [[Seymour Lake (Vermont)|Lake Seymour]] in [[Morgan, Vermont|Morgan]], and through that the waters of Holland Pond. Echo Lake is one mile (1.6&nbsp;km) from East Charleston. It is one mile (1.6&nbsp;km) and a half long and one mile (1.6&nbsp;km) wide. General Whitelaw gave it the name of Echo Pond because when any sound was produced in its vicinity, it reverberated in various directions, producing a series of echoes.

Pensioners Pond is the next in size, and was so named because of the pension of a revolutionary soldier who employed its water power.

Toad Pond is above Pensioners Pond, near the great swamp on the [[Brownington, Vermont|Brownington]] line. Broadway Pond is near the Morgan line.<ref>Source: Gazetteer of Lamoille and Orleans Counties, VT.; 1883-1884, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child; May 1887</ref>

The southwest part of town is delimited from its neighbor, the town of Brownington, by Chilafoux Road, which runs northwest-southeast, for about half its length.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=July 2014  |journal=Northeast Kingdom Civil War Roundtable |pages=2 }}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1810= 56
|1820= 90
|1830= 564
|1840= 731
|1850= 1008
|1860= 1160
|1870= 1278
|1880= 1204
|1890= 1058
|1900= 1025
|1910= 993
|1920= 921
|1930= 895
|1940= 834
|1950= 764
|1960= 668
|1970= 654
|1980= 851
|1990= 844
|2000= 895
|2010= 1023
|2020= 1021
|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 |access-date=June 19, 2015 }}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 895 people, 362 households, and 261 families residing in the town. The [[population density]] was 23.9 people per square mile (9.2/km<sup>2</sup>). There were 587 housing units at an average density of 15.7 per square mile (6.0/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup of the town was 96.42% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 1.34% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.34% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], and 1.90% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.45% of the population.

There were 362 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.7% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 19.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.80.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,083, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $25,938 versus $19,911 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $15,278. About 16.4% of families and 20.0% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 29.6% of those under age 18 and 23.9% of those age 65 or over.

==Notable people==

* [[Benjamin Hunkins]], pioneer and Wisconsin territorial and state legislator, was born in Charleston<ref>'Memorials and Biographical Record and Illustrated Compendium Biography,' G.A. Orge and Company: 1899, Biographical Sketch of Benjamin Hunkins, pg. 1101</ref>
* [[Robert Mills (physicist)|Robert Mills]], Particle physicist; died in [[East Charleston, Vermont]] in 1999

==References==

{{Reflist|2}}

{{Orleans County, Vermont}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Charleston, Vermont| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Vermont]]
[[Category:Towns in Orleans County, Vermont]]