Editing Saxtons River, Vermont

{{Hatnote|For the river, see [[Saxtons River]].}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Saxtons River, Vermont
|settlement_type          = [[Village (United States)|Village]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

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|image_skyline            = SaxtonsRiverVT Village 2.jpg
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|pushpin_map            = Vermont
|pushpin_label_position = left <!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
|pushpin_map_caption    = Location within the state of Vermont
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<!-- Location -->
|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        = [[Windham County, Vermont|Windham]]

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<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref  = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_50.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 1.26
|area_land_km2            = 1.22
|area_water_km2           = 0.04
|area_total_sq_mi         = 0.49
|area_land_sq_mi          = 0.47
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.02

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States Census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 479
|population_density_km2   = auto
|population_density_sq_mi =

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|timezone                 = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|elevation_footnotes      = 
|elevation_m              = 142
|elevation_ft             = 466
|coordinates              = {{coord|43|8|18|N|72|30|33|W|region:US-VT|display=inline}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP Code]]s
|postal_code              = 05154 (Saxtons River)<br/>05101 ([[Bellows Falls, Vermont|Bellows Falls]])
|area_code                = [[Area code 802|802]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 50-62950<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 1459397<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|accessdate=January 31, 2008|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=October 25, 2007}}</ref>
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}}
{{US Census population
| 1930 = 670
| 1940 = 740
| 1950 = 715
| 1960 = 725
| 1970 = 581
| 1980 = 593
| 1990 = 541
| 2000 = 519
| 2010 = 565
| 2023 = 472
| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}
[[File:SR parade 7-4-2013 10-47-02 AM.JPG|thumb|Start of a game of water polo on Main St, Saxtons River, after the 4th of July parade in 2013. The game is played by volunteer firefighters with fire hoses, trying to spray the ball down the street to a goal. Looking west at the Saxtons River Historical Society (a former Congregational church).]]
[[File:SaxtonsRiverVT_Village_3.jpg|thumb|Main Street Saxtons River — showcasing the Inn at Saxtons River and the Village Market on the right]]
[[File:Woolen_Manufacturers_of_Saxtons_RIver.png|thumb|19th Century Woolen Manufacturers of Saxtons River]]
[[File:Saxtons_River_Hotel_Pre-1903.png|thumb|The Saxton's River Hotel [sic] before it was taken down in 1903.]]
'''Saxtons River''' is an incorporated village in the town of [[Rockingham, Vermont|Rockingham]] in [[Windham County, Vermont]], United States.  The population was 479 at the [[2020 United States Census|2020 census]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US5062950|title=Census - Geography Profile: Saxtons River village, Vermont|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=December 26, 2021}}</ref> For over a hundred years, Saxtons River has been the home of [[Vermont Academy]], an independent secondary school.  Most of the village is a [[historic district (United States)|historic district]] listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1986 as '''Saxtons River Village Historic District'''.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the village has a total area of 0.5&nbsp;square mile (1.3&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), all land.

==History==
According to [[Bellows Falls, Vermont|Bellows Falls]]-based historian Lyman Simpson Hayes, writing in 1907’s ''History of the Town of Rockingham'', the first settlement of the area that would become Saxtons River occurred in 1783, when Amos P. Cummings cut down the first trees of an “entirely unbroken wilderness of immense trees of primitive growth.”<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hayes |first1=Lyman Simpson |title=History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont: Including the Villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport and Bartonsville, 1753-1907, with Family Genealogies |date=1907 |publisher=Town of Rockingham, VT |page=367}}</ref> As late as 1795, there existed only two houses in the village — population growth was extremely slow.

A [[meeting house]] was built and the village cemetery established in 1810, and the first [[textile mill]] was opened at the Middle Falls (now officially named Saxtons River Falls<ref>[https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=138:3:::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:2785369,Saxtons%20River%20Falls GNIS entry for Saxtons River Falls-retrieved 2020-11-21]</ref>) in 1815. The village bounds were determined by the town in 1820, and it was formally incorporated as a village in 1905, which is overseen by a board of trustees elected by registered voters of the Village.

By 1828, the village contained the aforementioned meeting house (which by this point was the public school building), a post office, mills of various sorts ([[Gristmill|grist]], [[Sawmill|saw]], [[fulling]]), a [[Tanning (leather)|tannery]], a [[forge]], a tavern, a distillery, two stores, one law office and forty-five dwellings. By 1907, Saxtons River was a “flourishing village of about nine hundred and fifty inhabitants, with a variety of mills and other industries.”<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hayes |first1=Lyman Simpson |title=History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont: Including the Villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport and Bartonsville, 1753-1907, with Family Genealogies |date=1907 |publisher=Town of Rockingham, VT |page=368}}</ref>

From 1900-1924, Rockingham's two incorporated villages were linked by the Bellows Falls & Saxtons River Railroad, an electric train system. The company created Barbers Park, east of the Saxtons River about halfway between the villages, to which summertime crowds took the [[Trolley (streetcar)|trolleys]] to baseball games and amusement rides. Although Saxtons River village had a long history of industry, much of it had failed by the 1920s.

Located mostly inside the Village boundaries, and a strong influence on the character and economy of Saxtons River, is [[Vermont Academy]], a [[Private school|private]], co-educational high school founded in 1876. Vermont Academy established an annual Winter Carnival early in the 20th century, contributing to the creation of New England's winter recreation culture. Student enrollment is around 230.<ref>Saxtons River Village web site http://www.rockbf.org/index.asp?SEC=B4316549-8F7D-4EDF-ABB4-A92ACCD380F4&DE=206B9057-AEA5-4E58-B35B-C4444D788DB8&Type=B_BASIC Retrieved 7-29-17</ref>

After a period of decline in the mid-20th century, many of the older buildings, such as the Saxtons River Inn, were restored and rehabilitated.<ref name="NRHP">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=88001851}}|title=NRHP nomination for Saxtons River Village Historic District|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=December 29, 2015}}</ref>

In 1974, the Campbell family (which at that time represented 1/40th of the population of the village according to the ''New York Times'' article "21 Campbells and One Charming Vermont Inn") reopened the aging Saxtons River Inn, "a 1903 relic on Main Street", full of peeling paint and "hoods of abandoned Cadillacs propped up on the sagging porches."<ref>{{Cite web |title=TimesMachine: Thursday May 13, 1976 - NYTimes.com |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1976/05/13/issue.html |access-date=January 30, 2023 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}</ref> After a year-long "kind of super barn raising", with help from the community, the refurbished Inn became a mainstay of the community for decades with a bar, dining room and 10 guest rooms. The Inn has continued to change hands over the years, but still survives.

Historic buildings include:
*Congregational Church (Main Street), now the Saxtons River Historical Society; 1836, 1871
*Saxtons River Village Building (Upper Main Street); c. 1860, c. 1970
*"Maple Grove," Smith-Bancroft-Neill House (Upper Main Street); c. 1830 and later
*Warner Block-Odd Fellows Building (Main Street), now the home of [[Main Street Arts]]; c. 1850
*Sabin-Bryant Block (Main and School Street); c. 1865
*Saxtons River Public School (School Street); 1915
*Saxtons River Inn (Main Street and Academy Avenue); 1903
*"The Beehive" (Academy Avenue); c. 1860
*Simonds Store - Saxtons River Village Market (Main Street and Academy Avenue); c. 1870
*Tin Shop or Saxwin Building (Main and Maple Streets); c. 1850
*Baptist Church (Main Street), now Christ's Church, UCC; 1840
*Fuller Hardware Store (Main Street); c. 1830
*Saxtons River Woolen Mill foundation (Maple Street); c. 1847 and later.
*Wool Pulling Shop (River Street); c. 1870
*Old South Meetinghouse site (Westminster Street)
*Saxtons River Cemetery (off Westminster Street)
*Tenney's Lumber Mill (off Westminster Street); 1870
*Thompson Gristmill (Westminster Street); c. 1850

==Demographics==
As of the [[2010 United States Census|2010 Census]],<ref name="GR2" /> there were 565 people in 210 households in the village.  The [[population density]] was 1,130 people per square mile (434.6/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup of the village was 94.65% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 1.6% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.4% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.5% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 2.5% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 2.85% of the population.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 29.3% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 13.1% from 25 to 34, 40.5% from 35 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. Median age was 37.6 years.
[[File:Saxtons_River_Falls_5-28-2014_10-01-25_AM.JPG|thumb|Saxtons River Falls, or Middle Falls as it was historically known.]]

== Notable people ==
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* [[Horace Henry Baxter]], prominent businessman and Adjutant General of the [[Vermont National Guard|Vermont Militia]] during the [[American Civil War]]
* [[John Butler Smith]], 44th [[List of Governors of New Hampshire|Governor of New Hampshire]]
* [[Charles C. Tillinghast Jr.]], president and CEO (later chairman) of [[Trans World Airlines]] from 1961 to 1976.  Chancellor of [[Brown University]] from 1967 to 1978.

==See also==
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Windham County, Vermont]]
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==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Windham County, Vermont}}
{{NRHP in Windham County, Vermont}}

{{Coord|43|08|16|N|72|30|35|W|type:city_region:US-VT|display=title}}

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[[Category:Saxtons River, Vermont| ]]
[[Category:Incorporated villages in Vermont]]
[[Category:Villages in Windham County, Vermont]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Windham County, Vermont]]