Hardwick, Vermont

Welcome to Hardwick banner over Lamoille River.

Over Lamoille River.

File:Hardwick2.jpg

View from Buffalo Mountain

Hardwick is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,920 at the 2020 census.<ref name="Census 2020">Template:Cite web</ref> It contains the unincorporated villages of Hardwick, East Hardwick, and Mackville.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The town is a commercial center for the region's farming population.<ref>Template:Cite web retrieved on June 15, 2007</ref>

The main settlement of Hardwick in the center of the town, formerly an incorporated village, is since 1988 a census-designated place (CDP), with a population of 1,269 at the 2020 census.<ref name="Census 2020 CDP">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington ordered construction of the Bayley-Hazen Military Road to provide access into the interior of Vermont. It would prompt the development and settlement of Hardwick and East Hardwick.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The town was granted by the Vermont General Assembly on November 7, 1780, then chartered on August 19, 1781, to Danforth Keyes and 66 others, some of whom were from Hardwick, Massachusetts. Permanent settlement began in 1793 when several families named Norris arrived from New Hampshire. By 1859, when the population reached 1,402, the town had several sawmills and gristmills on the Lamoille River. There were also two tanneries. Over the years, other industries would include a woolen mill, tinware shop, and carriage factory.Template:Citation needed

The predominant business following the Civil War was granite quarrying, especially after the Portland & Ogdensburg Railway opened service through the town and facilitated shipment of stone. While most of the granite was quarried in nearby Woodbury, the stone was dressed and finished in Hardwick, largely near "Granite Junction", where the rail lines met.<ref>E.g., Vermont Board of Railroad Commissioners, Seventh Biennial report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of Vermont, p. 143 (1900).</ref> The Hardwick and Woodbury Railroad was built to bring granite from the quarries to the finishing shops, and Hardwick became known as the "Building Granite Center of the World".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By 1906, 1,200 people were employed in the industry, which was led by the Woodbury Granite Company. Buildings around the country made with Hardwick granite include the Pennsylvania State Capitol, Chicago City Hall, and the 1914 Post Office in Washington, D.C., as well as numerous city halls and custom houses.<ref>Elizabeth H. Dow, “Hardwick on the Map, 1895-1915: Industrialization in Direct Democracy”, Vermont History: Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society, Vol. 58, No. 4, pp. 221-249 (Fall 1990).</ref> The decline of the "architectural granite" industry in the 1920s and 1930s left Hardwick in economic depression.

Hardwick Village disincorporated in 1988 and merged with the town.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2011, the office manager of the municipal electric department was accused of embezzling $1.6 million over a period of 12 years. The FBI investigated, and she was charged in federal court and found guilty.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Fletcher Granite Company, Hardwick, VT.jpg

Fletcher Granite Co. Template:Circa

Geography

Hardwick is the westernmost town in Caledonia County. It is bordered by the Caledonia County towns of Walden and Stannard to the east. The town of Greensboro, in Orleans County, is to the north. Lamoille County is to the west, containing the town of Wolcott to the west and Elmore to the southwest. To the south, in Washington County, are the towns of Woodbury and Cabot. According to the United States Census Bureau, Hardwick has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert, or 1.02%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">Template:Cite web</ref> The CDP (town center) of Hardwick has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert, or 1.16%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010 CDP">Template:Cite web</ref>

Hardwick is drained by the Lamoille River and its tributaries, flowing west to Lake Champlain. The highest point in Hardwick is the summit of Jeudevine Mountain in the northern corner of the town, at Template:Convert above sea level.

The town is crossed by Vermont Route 14, Vermont Route 15, and Vermont Route 16.

Demographics

As of the census<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 3,174 people, 1,216 households, and 854 families residing in the town. The population density was 82.4 people per square mile (31.8/km²). There were 1,407 housing units at an average density of 36.5 per square mile (14.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.89% White, 0.06% African American, 0.82% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.19% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.41% of the population.Template:Citation needed

There were 1,216 households, out of which 37.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. Of all households, 22.5% were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.06.Template:Citation needed

In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.Template:Citation needed

Economy

Personal income

The median income for a household in the town was $33,636, and the median income for a family was $39,278. Males had a median income of $27,188 versus $21,732 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,813. About 10.5% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.3% of those under age 18 and 14.2% of those age 65 or over.

Agriculture

Several agribusinesses active in and around Hardwick,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> employing techniques of sustainable agriculture,<ref name="Gourmet Magazine">Template:Cite news</ref> have added an estimated 75-100 jobs to the area (through 2008).Template:Citation needed<ref name="CAE About">Template:Cite web</ref> They operate the Vermont Food Venture Center, a "shared-use kitchen incubator for value-added and specialty food producers."<ref name="CAE VFVC">Template:Cite web</ref> The facility should generate the equivalent of 16 full-time jobs whenTemplate:When fully operational.<ref name=vermontbiz.com>Template:Cite web</ref>

Historic places

The town contains five places on the National Register of Historic Places:

• Building at 143 Highland Avenue – 143 Highland Ave. (added May 6, 2000)
• Cobb School – Jct. of Hardwick Town Hwy. 10 (Cobb School Rd.) and Sanborn Cemetery Rd. (added October 30, 1993)
• Downtown Hardwick Village Historic District – Brush St. (added April 10, 2004)
• Downtown Hardwick Village Historic District – Main, Church, Maple and Mill Sts. (added October 30, 1982)
• Hardwick Street Historic District – NE of Hardwick (added July 22, 1979)

Government

The federal government granted the town $492,000 in 2008 to upgrade the water system for fire-fighting purposes after a 2005 fire gutted the Bemis block.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The town owns the Hardwick Electric Department.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The town owns Template:Convert of shoreline on Caspian Lake in Greensboro. The Template:Convert has been used for recreation since 1927. As a result, they pay taxes to Greensboro on land worth $644,000. This was overlooked until 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Vermont State Legislature passed a bill near the end of its 2013 calendar exempting Caspian Lake Public Beach from state taxes, a bill which "appears to solve recent questions between Greensboro and Hardwick regarding taxation of the Public Beach."<ref name="Greensboro Association">Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

The Hardwick Gazette is a weekly newspaper founded in 1889 that serves Hardwick and nine nearby communities. Template:As of it has a circulation of about 2,200 and was for sale through an essay contest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> While the contest did not receive enough entries, a buyer was found from among the entrants and ownership changed in February 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The buyer was Ray Smalls. Smalls has a background in business and bought the paper with his wife, putting his retirement plans on hold. Smalls was not able to gain as much success in improving circulation of the paper as he had hoped and has been personally financially supporting the paper for about three years.

Notable people

• Guy W. Bailey, Secretary of State of Vermont and President of the University of Vermont<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Dustin Grow Cheever, politician
• Catherine Cate Coblentz, writer
• Philip Cummings, Spanish teacher, news analyst, public speaker
• Kent Osborne, screenwriter and actor
• Dorman Bridgman Eaton, lawyer and author
• Lee E. Emerson, 69th governor of Vermont
• Jim Fixx, author and jogging enthusiast
• Thomas J. D. Fuller, US congressman
• David H. Nichols, politician
• William H. Taylor, Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

• Hardwick Gazette building, 42 South Main Street
  Hardwick Gazette building, 42 South Main Street
• Jeudevine Library, 93 North Main Street
  Jeudevine Library, 93 North Main Street
• Hardwick Post Office, 52 Mill Street
  Hardwick Post Office, 52 Mill Street
• Historic Hardwick Inn, 4 South Main Street
  Historic Hardwick Inn, 4 South Main Street
• Buffalo Mountain Food Co-operative, 39 South Main Street
  Buffalo Mountain Food Co-operative, 39 South Main Street
• Footbridge over Lamoille River
  Footbridge over Lamoille River

Further reading

• A. J. Coolidge & J. B. Mansfield (1859), A History and Description of New England; Boston, Massachusetts.
• Township information – Hardwick, Vermont

External links

• Town of Hardwick official website
• Jeudevine Memorial Library
• Hardwick Area Chamber of Commerce
• Virtual Vermont – Hardwick, Vermont
• "Vermont Town's Food Focus Still a Growing Concept", Morning Edition, NPR—Article on organic farming in Hardwick