Main Sections

Around And About Addison County-Starksboro

Tuesday August 5, 2008

By M. Stuart Parks

    On November 9, 1780 the Vermont Republic chartered the town of Starksboro.   The town was named for Brigadier General John Stark who was a New Hampshire native and the hero of Bunker Hill and Bennington.  He was a member of Roger's Rangers in the French and Indian War.  

    George Bidwell was the first settler in Starksboro arriving in 1787 with Horace Kellogg and later bringing his wife and two children from Connecticut.  The first few years were very difficult.  Mr. Bidwell was a cooper, or barrel maker, and had to cart his wares 13 miles to Vergennes over roads that were barely horse tracks.  He was reputed to be a kind man who never turned his back on someone in need.

    The town was actually organized and officers elected in 1796.  As the town began to grow more businesses came into being.  In 1808 the Morrison brothers started a tannery on Baldwin Creek.  Samuel Bushnell had a blacksmith shop as early as 1815 and Elisha Ferguson had a wheelwright shop.  John Ferguson built a saw-mill and grist-mill.  Asahel Wentworth kept a hotel, a shoe shop and a tannery.  

    The town grew quickly and by 1805 the number of school children was one hundred and eighty nine.  By 1816 that number had increased to three hundred and eighty two.  In 1832 the town was divided into seventeen school districts, all with one-room schools.  By 1927 the number of districts was reduced to eight and in 1941 the Starksboro Village School was enlarged into a two room school and renamed the Robinson School.  In the fall of 1968 Mt. Abraham Union High School opened with grades 7 through 12 and the last one room school, the Jerusalem school closed its doors. The Robinson School has had three additions between 1978 and 1996 to accommodate the elementary age children of the town.

    The men of Starksboro were never reluctant to serve their country.  Most of the early settlers were Revolutionary War veterans and they were not lacking when asked to serve in the War of 1812.  The Civil War saw ninety-seven Starksboro men sign on for various lengths of service.  

    It is easy to forget that Vermont was once primarily forest.  The meadows and farmlands we see today did not exist when our towns were settled.  Starksboro's early settlers were looking for land that offered only hardwood so they could capitalize on the charcoal industry.  Dairy farming did not become an important industry until the railroads came in the mid-1800s.  Butter and cheese were made on the farm and many a farm wife had a “cheese room” where she made large wheels of cheese.  Buyers from the cities came to towns like Bristol, rented wagons and went from farm to farm buying goods to take back and sell.  In the late 1800s, when trucking became available, cheese and butter creameries sprang up because trucks provided a way to transport fluid milk.  In 1973 there were nineteen dairy farms in Starksboro.  In 2003 there were five.  

    Maple products have always been important to Starksboro farmers.  Maple syrup has not always been put in cans or bottles or made into maple sugar.  It was originally put in large casks and hauled by wagon to the railroad in Bristol to be sold both in state and out of state.  

    The years between 1860 and 1960 saw a steady decline in population.  Abandonment of hill farms and the loss of small businesses resulted in a loss of residents.  By 1960 there were only 502 people in the town.  The first Town Plan was adopted in 1973 and it was clear that Starksboro was becoming a more suburban community because of the nearness to areas like Burlington and South Burlington and to plants like IBM in Essex Junction.  These areas are the industrial centers of north western Vermont. According to the 2000 census there were 1,898 residents in Starksboro.  

    The Register of National Historic Places has listed the following:  The Hoag Grist Mill and the Knight House Complex at the Great Falls of Lewis Creek, the South Starksboro Friends Meeting House and the Starksboro Village Meeting House.  Many more Starksboro buildings are listed on the State Register of Historic Places as well as the Starksboro Village Historic District.    

Printer Friendly

Top

Advertisements

Search our Archives