Danville, Vermont

Danville is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,196 at the 2010 census.[4] The primary settlement in town is recorded as the Danville census-designated place (CDP) and had a population of 383 at the 2010 census.[5]

Danville, Vermont
Town
Danville's post office
Danville, Vermont
Danville, Vermont Location in the United States
Coordinates: 44°25′N 72°8′W
Country	United States
State	Vermont
County	Caledonia
Established	October 31, 1786 (chartered)[1]
Communities	Danville Danville Center North Danville Upper Narrows West Danville
Area
• Total	61.1 sq mi (158.3 km^2)
• Land	60.7 sq mi (157.3 km^2)
• Water	0.4 sq mi (1.1 km^2)
Elevation	1,591 ft (485 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	2,196
• Density	36/sq mi (14.0/km^2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	05828, 05873 (West Danville)
Area code(s)	802
FIPS code	50-17125[2]
GNIS feature ID	1462080[3]
Website	www.danvillevermont.org

History

Danville was established on October 31, 1786, by the Vermont Legislature, making it one of the last towns to be created in Caledonia County.

The town was named for the 18th-century French cartographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville.[6]

A Debtors' prison was located here in the late 18th to the early 19th centuries.[7]

A thief in West Danville made national news in 2008 when he apologized for robbing a convenience store and left a roll of one-dollar bills to allow the store to open up the next morning.[8]

The annual convention of the American Society of Dowsers is held in Danville.[9][10]

In July 2017, the Charles D. Brainerd Public Library reopened in the village of West Danville, making the town once again home to Vermont's smallest library.[11]

Geography

Scenery typical of the Danville area in mid-October.

Danville is located west of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Other towns bordering Danville are Barnet to the southeast, Peacham to the south, Cabot and Walden to the west, Stannard to the northwest, Wheelock to the north, and Lyndon to the northeast, touching Danville at a single corner. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 61.1 square miles (158.3 km²), of which 60.7 square miles (157.3 km²) is land and 0.42 square miles (1.1 km²), or 0.67%, is water.[4] The main village in town (not separately incorporated) comprises the Danville CDP, with an area of 1.0 square mile (2.7 km²), all land.[5]

U.S. Route 2 runs through the town, connecting St. Johnsbury to the east with Montpelier 26 miles (42 km) to the west. In West Danville the two-lane highway passes Joes Pond (named after Indian Joe[12]), which extends into Cabot. Vermont Route 15 leaves US-2 in West Danville, heading northwest towards Hardwick and Morrisville.

The highest point in Danville is a 2,365-foot (721 m) summit on the ridge of the Kittredge Hills along the western border of the town.

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Danville has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.[13]

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	574		—
1800	1,514		163.8%
1810	2,240		48.0%
1820	2,300		2.7%
1830	2,631		14.4%
1840	2,633		0.1%
1850	2,577		−2.1%
1860	2,544		−1.3%
1870	2,216		−12.9%
1880	2,003		−9.6%
1890	1,784		−10.9%
1900	1,628		−8.7%
1910	1,564		−3.9%
1920	1,494		−4.5%
1930	1,600		7.1%
1940	1,472		−8.0%
1950	1,312		−10.9%
1960	1,368		4.3%
1970	1,405		2.7%
1980	1,705		21.4%
1990	1,917		12.4%
2000	2,211		15.3%
2010	2,196		−0.7%
Est. 2014	2,208	[14]	0.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[15]

As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 2,211 people, 871 households, and 627 families residing in the town. The population density was 36.3 people per square mile (14.0/km²). There were 1,152 housing units at an average density of 18.9 per square mile (7.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.10% White, 0.18% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.14% Asian, and 0.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.45% of the population.

There were 871 households, out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.0% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.0% were non-families. 23.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 28.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $42,440, and the median income for a family was $47,150. Males had a median income of $33,654 versus $21,573 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,012. About 6.2% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the federal poverty line, including 11.3% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Joe's Pond and Joe's Brook

The only major body of water in the town is the Joe's Pond, which covers 396 acres (160 ha) and is partially in Danville and partially in neighboring Cabot to the west.[9] The pond, an impoundment of the brook in West Danville, is the largest of the six bodies of water in the Joe's Brook watershed, which is in turn part of the Passumpsic River watershed.[16] Game fish in the pond include lake trout, smallmouth bass, northern pike (which were illegally introduced), rainbow smelt, rock bass, pumpkinseed, chain pickerel, yellow perch, and brown bullhead.[16] Plant species in the pond include the common mare's tail (Hippuris vulgaris) and the small bur-reed (Sparganium natans).[16]

The Greenbanks Hollow Covered Bridge, one of Vermont's many covered bridges, traverses Joe's Brook and lies within the Danville town boundaries. The covered bridge was built in 1886 and restored in its original condition in the early 2000s.[17] The bridge is owned by the Town of Danville, has a queen post truss, and is 74 feet, 9.5 inches in length and 14 feet, 6.5 inches in width.[17]

Notable people

• Jere A. Blount, Wisconsin State Assemblyman[18]
• Asa P. Blunt (1835–1889), 12th Regular Vermont Infantry Volunteers; Brigadier General U.S.V[19]
• Beth Chamberlin, Daytime Emmy Award nominated star of "Guiding Light"[20]
• Arthur M. Chickering, arachnologist[21]
• Augustine Clarke, Anti-Masonic Party leader and Vermont State Treasurer[22]
• Charles Davis (1789–1863), Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court[23]
• Benjamin F. Deming, U.S. Representative from Vermont[24]
• Henry Leavenworth, early U.S. infantry officer and explorer[25]
• Cyrus Miner, Wisconsin state legislator and businessman[26]
• William A. Palmer, Governor of Vermont and United States Senator[27]
• Thaddeus Stevens, U.S. congressman from Pennsylvania[28]

See also

• Danville, Quebec, founded by residents of Danville, Vermont

References

1. Records of the Governor and Council of State of Vermont. 3. Montpelier, Vermont: Steam Press of J. and J.M. Poland. 1875. p. 138.
2. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
3. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
4. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Danville town, Caledonia County, Vermont". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
5. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Danville CDP, Vermont". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
6. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Government Printing Office. pp. 100.
7. Dunbar, Bethany M. (June 26, 2013). "Barton's hydroelectric history is revisited". The Chronicle. Barton, Vermont. pp. 1B.
8. "Robber apologizes during Vt. general store holdup". Associated Press. November 21, 2008.
9. "Danville" in The Vermont Encyclopedia (eds. John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand & Ralph H. Orth: University of Vermont Press, 2003), p. 101.
10. John Nobel Wilford, Dowsers Meet to Plumb the Unfathomable, New York Times (September 21, 1977).
11. "Historic Library Now Open". The Caledonian-Record. St. Johnsbury, Vermont. July 17, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
12. Brown, E. Jane (September 1994). "Welcome to Joe's Pond Vermont". Originally published in The Caledonian Record. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
13. "Danville, Vermont Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase.
14. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". Archived from the original on May 23, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
15. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
16. Passumpsic River Watershed: Water Quality and Aquatic Habitat Assessment Report, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (June 2009), pp. 1, 17-18.
17. Benjamin D. Evans & June R. Evans (2004). New England's Covered Bridges: A Complete Guide. University Press of New England. pp. 198–99.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
18. Wisconsin Legislative Manual (1876), p. 486.
19. Albert G. Chadwick, Soldiers' Record of the Town of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in the War of the Rebellion, 1883, page 25
20. WCAX-TV, The End of an Era: Last 'Guiding Light' Episode Airs Today, September 18, 2009
21. Robert Cecil Cook, Who's Who in American Education, 1966, page 270
22. The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, Vermont Government, 1835, page 167
23. Baldwin, Frederick W. (1886). Biography of the Bar of Orleans County, Vermont. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press. pp. 65–69.
24. "DEMING, Benjamin F., (1790 - 1834)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
25. Fort Leavenworth Historical Society, Biography, Henry Leavenworth Archived 2014-01-06 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved January 5, 2014
26. 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1889,' Biographical Sketch of Cyrus Miner, pg. 517
27. Eliakim Persons Walton, Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont, Volume VIII, 1880, page 1
28. "STEVENS, Thaddeus, (1792 - 1868)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

External links

• Town of Danville official website
• Tennie Toussaint photograph collection of the Danville area, circa 1900. Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Library.