Regional Profile
History
Early Settlement
The Abenaki people lived in present-day Vermont when European settlers arrived and depended on seasonal hunting, fishing, gathering, and agriculture.[1] One of the earliest sites of native agriculture in northern New England is the Skitchewaug site in the Connecticut River Valley near present-day Springfield, Vermont and dates to the year 1100. Agriculture is thought to have become more prevalent by 1300 with the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash in the Connecticut River Valley.[2] The rise of agriculture also led to more permanent settlements. Historians have noted there were several major bands of Abenaki in Vermont, each with larger settlements on tributaries to the Connecticut River. The closest major village to the Windham Region was in present-day Northfield, Massachusetts (Squakheag).[3] It is estimated that between 2,000 – 6,000 Abenaki lived in the upper Connecticut River Valley at the time of European arrival.[4]
European Settlement
When early European settlers arrived, the region was heavily timbered with abundant wildlife. Initially, there was little interest in establishing permanent settlements and the majority of European activity was related to the fur trade, which peaked in the mid-1650s. However, the British began pushing into southern Connecticut River Valley in the early 18th century and established Fort Dummer near present-day Brattleboro in 1724. A more significant influx of Europeans into Vermont began in the early 1760s. By this time, the Abenaki population had declined severely due to disease, the impacts of the fur trade, and warfare between the French and British over the previous decades.
Early European settlers focused primarily on clearing land for homestead sites and agriculture. Harvested timber was used primarily for building and fuel, with potash, tannin, and other commodities being secondary uses. However, by the late 1700s the region had become more connected with the rest of New England and larger commodity markets centered in urban areas. This transformed the timber industry into a cornerstone of the region’s economy. An additional effect, combined with land clearing for agricultural activities, was an almost complete transformation of the region from being forest covered to cleared land.
Settlement Patterns
Physical limitations played a dominant role in the region’s development pattern. European settlement first occurred in the Connecticut River Valley where water, rich soil, and access to natural transportation routes were available. Settlement and land clearing soon spread throughout much of the region. In the early 19th century, villages evolved in the valleys, such as Wilmington, often attracted by water power for mills and manufacturing.
A linear pattern of development was the natural response to the river and stream valleys as was the establishment of a road system along those same streams, linking village nodes in each major valley. These roads encouraged a land use pattern of mixed residential and commercial uses radiating from villages. The resulting pattern, readily visible today, is one of small villages located in stream valleys with expansion out along connecting roads.
Agriculture
During the first half of the 19th century, agriculture shifted from subsistence farming to market-based production. Difficult soil conditions and increased competition from farmers in the west would eventually result in a decline in agriculture in the region beginning around the Civil War and continuing to 1900.
In the early 1800s, Vermont became a world leader in wool production with prized Merino sheep imported from Spain. The Town of Westminster was one center for wool production in the state and during the height of wool production, many carding, spinning, and weaving mills were established in small towns. The Vermont sheep industry peaked in 1840 and declined dramatically after the Civil War, when demand for wool declined and global competition arrived in the form of wool from Australia and New Zealand. Eventually, dairy farming replaced sheep operations as the dominant agricultural activity in Vermont. Presently, dairy farming is declining, existing farms are diversifying, and many smaller diverse farming operations and specialty food manufacturers are appearing.
Population Changes
Beginning in the mid-1800s, Vermonters began to move around. Many hill farms were abandoned by their owners after years of clearing, grazing, and cultivating took their toll on the thin soils and steep slopes so common in the region. Some people moved west to take advantage of more fertile land and encouraged by the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the Homestead Act of 1862. Other farmers moved to larger, nearby towns for jobs in growing industries. Compared to other regions in New England, Vermont experienced relatively little in terms of industrial development which meant people were more likely to move out of state for jobs. In the smaller villages, businesses that relied on hill farms subsequently failed, and in some cases the villages themselves were abandoned. The Civil War also contributed to Vermont’s population decline, as soldiers emigrated after the war to more fertile lands in the Ohio Valley.
While the period of 1790 to 1830 had seen significant population growth in the region, this growth levelled off for more than a hundred years until around 1950. Between 1850 and 1930, 77 percent of the region’s towns saw steady declines in population. The only towns to see relatively steady growth during this period were Brattleboro, Rockingham, and Readsboro, which was associated with new industries and corresponding job growth in these communities. In the mid-1900s, many of the region’s smaller towns began to see population increases, often fueled by ski area development or the back to the land movement. In the 21st century, these increases have slowed. The population of Brattleboro and Rockingham has seen relatively little change.
Manufacturing and Other Industries
The prevalence of rivers and streams in the region provided power for woolen mills, paper mills, and other industries, as well as transportation routes. Log drives occurred on the larger rivers until the early 20th century. Roads and railroads utilized river corridors and included routes along the Connecticut, West, and Deerfield Rivers. Railroads played an important role in shaping the region and encouraged the development of Brattleboro and Bellows Falls as regional centers. The railroads carried freight and passengers, bringing more people to the region and facilitating commerce with Boston, New York City, and points south and west.
Brattleboro and Bellows Falls
Prior to the arrival of the railroads to Vermont in the mid-19th century, commerce largely depended on Vermont’s waterway transportation on rivers and canals. Bellows Falls was the site of the first canal in the State to initiate construction. Roads at the time tended to be only marginally passable. Brattleboro and Bellows Falls benefitted significantly as a result of the railroad expansion into Vermont between 1848 and 1870. At the same time, the population of outlying towns was in decline, especially for more remote communities in the hills. Brattleboro hosted a range of industries, including organ manufacturers, an iron foundry, a hospital, print shops, and a cigar factory. Bellows Falls was an industrial center that included paper mills, a farm machinery company, lumber mills, and a marble works. The industries in both towns provided jobs and appealed to many who abandoned farming to work in factories. In the latter part of the 20th century, the development of Interstate 91 as part of the extensive national highway system allowed Brattleboro and Bellows Falls to emerge as warehousing and trucking centers.
Tourism and Land Conservation
In the late 1800s, tourists were attracted to the Windham Region for its heritage, natural beauty, and recreational activities. The State began taking a more active role in tourism as well – in the 1890s the Board of Agriculture began promoting Vermont as a place for urban residents to rest and recover, and in 1946 the Vermont Development Commission founded Vermont Life magazine to promote tourism and the state generally.
Around this same time, conservation became an important movement in Vermont, reflecting trends at the national level. The state established its forest system in 1909 recognizing the important role of forests in providing natural resources, wildlife habitat, scenic landscapes, and recreational opportunities. Today, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources maintains numerous State Forests, Parks, and Wildlife Management Areas throughout the Windham Region. The Green Mountain National Forest was established in 1932 and today covers land in Readsboro, Searsburg, Wilmington, Somerset, Dover, Wardsboro, Stratton, Jamaica, Winhall, Londonderry, and Weston.
Beginning in the 1950s, the ski industry began to play a significant role as skiing and accommodations brought increasing number of skiers and visitors during winter months. The development of the interstate highway system in the 1960s began a new era characterized by easy and convenient access to the region from large metropolitan areas. This would result in explosive growth in vacation homes and related facilities. In the 1980s and 1990s, the region’s ski resorts focused on expansion and development of other winter recreation activities such as snowmobiling, as well as golf and mountain biking to attract year-round visitors.
Modern Vermont
The rise in the tourism economy and opening of the interstate highway system in the region contributed to new development pressures unseen since the early 19th century. Between 1850 and 1960, the Region’s population remained essentially flat at around 31,000 residents total. Between 1960 and 2000 the population grew from 31,319 to 46,449, an increase of nearly 50 percent. Population growth levelled off after 2000, returning to the slower rates seen prior to 1950.
While the State was actively promoting tourism, there was also a growing recognition during this time that the associated development impacts could be detrimental to the aspects of Vermont that were drawing tourists to the state in the first place—its rural landscapes and historic villages. Governor Deane Davis appointed the Commission on Environmental Control in 1969 to study these development concerns, many of which were concentrated around the growing ski resorts in the Windham Region. A major piece of legislation that came from the Commission’s work was Act 250, passed in 1970, which set up a state permitting process for certain types of large development projects. Act 250 remains one of the critical tools in State land use planning today.
Improved transportation infrastructure also allowed for the development of new types of industries, like precision manufacturing and warehousing. These industries have been concentrated in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls, taking advantage of the interstate and rail network. As manufacturing has evolved and become less dependent on raw materials, new businesses have been drawn to the region for its quality of life amenities.
Energy production in the region has also evolved. The early 20th century saw hydropower development on the Deerfield and Connecticut Rivers. The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon was decommissioned in 2014 after more than 40 years of operation. Vermont Yankee accounted for approximately 70 percent of the state’s net generation of power in 2010. During this same time, the region has seen an increase in renewable energy production sites, and in particular solar arrays. The largest commercial wind farm in the eastern U.S. went online in Searsburg in 1997, and was expanded in 2017.
Two final important trends in the region during the first two decades of the 21st century have been the local food movement and a recognition of the impacts of climate change. The area has seen an increase in small-scale agricultural producers that have been supported by local farmers markets, community supported agriculture models, and local distribution hubs. In terms of climate change, the region has experienced warmer temperatures in summer and winter months and an increase in the intensity of rain storms. Two recent events, Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and the July 2023 flash floods, hit the Windham Region particularly hard in terms of damage to property and infrastructure and are indicative of heavier rain events the region can expect in the future.
[1] Historical Society of Windham County
[2] Klyza, Christopher McGrory & Trombulak, Stephan C. (2015). The Story of Vermont: A Natural and Cultural History. Chicago: University Press of New England
[3] Kylza &Trombulak
[4] Kylza &Trombulak