Waterford, Vermont, History: old days

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Memories of Fifty Years Ago -- and Before ... in Waterford, Vermont

At the small district schoolhouse, when Waterford had one-room and two-room (and even four-room) schools. Courtesy of Vivian Davis, who is one of the students here.

Stories of the "old days" from the people who remember what happened -- these are the treasures that the Waterford Historical Society's spoken history team gathers from area residents, on video, in pictures, and in voice recordings. And now you can watch and listen to Waterford, Vermont, residents share their memories, at the group's channel on YouTube. Hope you can make time to visit really soon -- just click here to see what's available!

Stories and History of Waterford, Vermont, Chartered Nov. 9, 1780

"The Town of Waterford is located in the southeastern part of Caledonia County, Vermont. It is bounded on the north-east by Concord, on the south by the southerly half of so-called Fifteen Mile Falls or rapids of the Connecticut River, on the southwest by Barnet, and on the northwest by St. Johnsbury.

"The Passumpsic River flows across the western corner of town; Stiles Pond is located in the northern part of the town. Its outlet flows into the Moose River in St. Johnsbury.

"At a meeting of the Governor and Council on Thursday, November 9th, 1780, a charter was granted to Benjamin Whipple and sixty-five associates as proprietors of the Township of Littleton [name would change to Waterford in 1797], the 43rd in the state and the second in Caledonia County, [the town of] Groton being one day older.

"The exact date of settlement is unknown but there is reliable evidence that James Adams was in town as early as 1783. Other settlers were John and James Wood, who settled near Passumpsic in 1782 or '85; and the Pike brothers, (Daniel and Nathan), Jonathan Hutchinson and Luther Knight who came from Royalston, Mass., in 1792 and settled in the eastern part of the town. The first settler in West Waterford was Amasa Hastings." -- From A VERMONT VILLAGE by Dr. C. E. Harris, circa 1942.

Waterford, Vermont, History

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Memories of Fifty Years Ago -- and Before ... in Waterford, Vermont

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