Guilford, Vermont

Guilford is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford.^[3] The population was 2,120 at the 2020 census.^[4]

Guilford, Vermont
Town
Christ Church, built in 1817 (2013)
Guilford, Vermont
Guilford, Vermont Location in the United States
Coordinates: 42°45′59″N 72°37′35″W
Country	United States
State	Vermont
County	Windham
Communities	Algiers Green River Guilford Center West Guilford
Area
• Total	40.0 sq mi (103.5 km2)
• Land	39.9 sq mi (103.3 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	791 ft (241 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,120
• Density	53/sq mi (20.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	05301
Area code	802
FIPS code	50-30925[1]
GNIS feature ID	1462112[2]
Website	guilfordvt.org

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.0 square miles (104 km²), of which 39.9 square miles (103 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (0.20%) is water.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	2,432		—
1800	2,256		−7.2%
1810	1,872		−17.0%
1820	1,862		−0.5%
1830	1,760		−5.5%
1840	1,525		−13.4%
1850	1,389		−8.9%
1860	1,291		−7.1%
1870	1,277		−1.1%
1880	1,096		−14.2%
1890	870		−20.6%
1900	782		−10.1%
1910	769		−1.7%
1920	684		−11.1%
1930	663		−3.1%
1940	686		3.5%
1950	796		16.0%
1960	823		3.4%
1970	1,108		34.6%
1980	1,532		38.3%
1990	1,941		26.7%
2000	2,046		5.4%
2010	2,121		3.7%
2020	2,120		0.0%
U.S. Decennial Census[5]

As of the census^[6] of 2010, there were 2,121 people, 902 households, and 574 families residing in the town. The population density was 53.2 people per square mile (20.5 people/km²). There were 1,038 housing units at an average density of 26.0 per square mile (10.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.2% White, 0.5% African American, 0.0% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population.

There were 902 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were husbands and wives living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present. 36.4% of all households were non-families, and 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.2% 19 years old or younger, 3.9% from 20 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 37.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $57,674, and the median income for a family was $77,431.^[7] Full-time working males had a median income of $42,250 versus $31,725 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,612. About 2.9% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.2% of those under the age of 18 and 2.5% of those 65 and older.

Guilford Country Store, built in 1817 as Broad Brook House

A covered bridge in Guilford

Historical timeline

• 1732 – Chartered as Gallup's Canada, Massachusetts
• 1754 – Chartered as Guilford, New Hampshire
• 1758 – Chartered as Guilford, New York
• 1760 or 1761 – First settler arrives, either Lucy Terry (1760) or Michah Rice (1761)^[8]
• 1782 – First house and barn built in Guilford burn down
• 1791 – Chartered as Guilford, Vermont
• 1791-1820 – Guilford is most populous town in Vermont
• 1816 – First Episcopal church in Vermont built in Guilford, Christ Church
• 1817 – Broad Brook House built, now houses the Guilford Country Store
• 1820 – East Guilford Cotton Mill on Bee Barn Road burns down
• 1822 – First Guilford Town Hall built on Guilford Center Road in Guilford Center, now historical museum
• 1837 – Universalist church built in Guilford Center
• 1855 – Algiers (East Guilford) schoolhouse burns down
• 1884 – Broad Brook Grange Hall #151 built in Guilford Center
• 1885 – Green River Paper Mill burns down
• 1889 – East Guilford Grist Mill, first mill built in Guilford, burns down
• 1900 – Post offices close after establishment of RFD 3
• 1934 – Barn burns down on Yeaw Road, killing two young girls
• 1948 – Guilford Recreation Club organized
• 1949 – Broad Brook Fire Control organized
• 1949 – Broad Brook Fire Control becomes Guilford Volunteer Fire Department
• 1954 – First firehouse built in Algiers on Guilford Center Road
• 1957 – Guilford Central School built, all old schoolhouses closed
• 1970 – House burns down on Johnson Pasture Drive, killing four people
• 1972 – Guilford Town Hall built on School Road
• 2005 – New firehouse built on Guilford Center Road in Algiers
• 2007 – Town constable given police cruiser, a step toward a town Police Department
• 2007 – First full-time firefighter in Guilford

Notable people

• Benjamin Carpenter, Lieutenant Governor, buried in West Guilford's Carpenter Cemetery^[9][10][11]
• James Elliot, author and United States Representative from Vermont^[12]
• Halbert S. Greenleaf, former US Congressman from New York^[13]
• Christopher Hitchens, writer, was Olivia Wilde's babysitter for a time^[14]
• Jonathan Hunt, former Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and early landowner in Guilford^[15]
• Charles E. Phelps, US Army brigadier general; Medal of Honor recipient; US congressman for Maryland^[16]
• John W. Phelps, brigadier general in the American Civil War and abolitionist^[17]
• Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist^[18]
• John Shepardson, one of the first white settlers of Guilford. Soldier in the American Revolution, justice of the Vermont Supreme Court^[19]
• Lucy Terry, African-American poet^[20]
• Royall Tyler, playwright^[21]
• Olivia Wilde, actress.^[22]