Essex, Vermont

Not to be confused with Essex County, Vermont.

Essex, Vermont
Town
Motto: "Crossroads of Chittenden County"
Location in Chittenden County and the state of Vermont. Location in Chittenden County and the state of Vermont.
Essex, Vermont Location in the United States
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Vermont
County	Chittenden
Incorporated	June 7, 1763
Area
• Total	39.3 sq mi (101.8 km2)
• Land	38.8 sq mi (100.6 km2)
• Water	0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
Elevation	486 ft (148 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	19,587
• Estimate (2014)	20,724
• Density	534/sq mi (206.1/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
ZIP codes	05451-05452
Area code	802
FIPS code	50-24175
GNIS feature ID	1462091
Website	www.essex.org

Essex is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The population was 19,587 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 20,724 in 2014. By population, Essex is the largest town in Vermont, and the second-largest municipality (after Burlington).

History

Town vote to merge			Revote
District	2006-11-07		2007-01-23
	Yes	No	Yes	No
6-1 (outside village)	1,283	2,319	690	2,528
6-3 (outside village)	365	822
6-2 (within village)	2,728	1,026	2,009	362
Townwide totals	4,376	4,167	2,699	2,890
Village vote to accept			No revote required, result was uncontested.
	2,922	1,085

The town was incorporated on June 7, 1763, named after the Earl of Essex.

The village of Essex Junction was formed—within the town of Essex—on November 15, 1892. The village was formed to provide services (such as sidewalks, water, and sewers) to the villagers that the rest of the, mostly rural, town citizens did not want, and did not want to pay for.

As the town outside the village developed, they gradually added similar services for themselves, and by 1958, the first hints of merger showed up in a voter petition. Since then a series of votes (often contentious) had defeated or passed merger in each community, but never at the same time in both. (which was required by the state legislature for them to sign off on the merger)

This temporarily changed on November 7, 2006, when merger passed in the town as a whole, and in the village. The town as a whole (including the village) got to vote once on the merger, and the village, separately, got to vote in a second ballot to accept the merger if it passed the townwide vote. This was confusing enough that the regional paper misreported the results as a defeat of the merger, based solely on the vote results outside the village. The next day the correct results were reported in both the town's paper, and as a correction in the regional paper.

On December 6, 2006, a petition to reconsider the merger was submitted to the town. The petition contained signatures totaling more than 5 percent of registered voters, which is the threshold required to force a re-vote. The revote was held on January 23, 2007, with a result that overturned the merger by 191 votes, rejecting the current merger proposal.

If the results had stood, a multi-year merger process would have resulted in a new "Town of Essex Junction" replacing the current governments of the town of Essex and the village of Essex Junction.

Geography

Essex is located in central Chittenden County, bordered on the south by the Winooski River. Neighboring municipalities are Colchester to the west, Milton at Essex' northwest corner, Westford to the north, Underhill at Essex' northeast corner, Jericho to the east, Williston to the south, and the city of South Burlington to the southwest. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town of Essex has a total area of 39.3 square miles (101.8 km²), of which 38.8 square miles (100.6 km²) is land and 0.50 square miles (1.3 km²), or 1.26%, is water.

The village of Essex Junction is located in the southwestern part of the town.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	354		—
1800	729		105.9%
1810	957		31.3%
1820	1,089		13.8%
1830	1,664		52.8%
1840	1,824		9.6%
1850	2,052		12.5%
1860	1,906		−7.1%
1870	2,022		6.1%
1880	2,104		4.1%
1890	2,013		−4.3%
1900	2,203		9.4%
1910	2,714		23.2%
1920	2,449		−9.8%
1930	2,876		17.4%
1940	3,059		6.4%
1950	3,931		28.5%
1960	7,090		80.4%
1970	10,951		54.5%
1980	14,392		31.4%
1990	16,498		14.6%
2000	18,626		12.9%
2010	19,587		5.2%
Est. 2014	20,724		5.8%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,626 people, 7,013 households, and 5,014 families residing in the town. The population density was 477.5 people per square mile (184.4/km²). There were 7,170 housing units at an average density of 183.8 per square mile (71.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.37% White, 0.88% African American, 0.19% Native American, 2.25% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 1.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.85% of the population.

There were 7,013 households out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.5% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the town the age distribution of the population shows 27.9% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $58,441, and the median income for a family was $65,794. Males had a median income of $45,428 versus $27,426 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,854. About 1.8% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Museums and other points of interest

The Harriet Farnsworth Powell Museum is located in Essex. The museum is housed in a former two-room schoolhouse, and includes a collection of costumes, school items, and local memorabilia.

Government

Essex comprises three Vermont Legislature districts (seats): Chittenden District 6-2 includes Essex Junction (a semi-independent village within the town), and Chittenden Districts 6-1 & 6-3 cover the town outside the village. The town and village each operate their own fire department, library, parks department, and municipal services, and contain separate school districts for grades K–8. The governments operate a unified police department and the unified Essex High School.

Education

There are two school districts in the town of Essex, educating 3,500 students in 2009: the Essex Junction School District and the Town of Essex School District.

The Essex Junction School District (Chittenden County Supervisory Union) funds and supervises Essex High School, Summit Street School, Fleming School, Albert D. Lawton School, the Hiawatha School, The Center for Technology, Essex and Westford School.

The Town of Essex School District funds and supervises Essex Elementary, Founders Memorial School and Essex Middle School. The middle school contains a "school within a school". In 2009, 87 students from 4th grade to 8th grade began to study in an alternative environment called the "Edge Academy" that allows them a say in how and what they study. Busing is run for all schools. Essex High School (EHS) provides busing for those who live in Essex town, South Hero, Grand Isle, North Hero and Georgia, but not for Essex Junction, Westford or Isle La Motte. There is also busing for Westford School.

Media

The Essex Reporter is a weekly newspaper published in town, covering news in Essex and the surrounding communities in Chittenden County. It has a weekly circulation of 8,800 copies.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Vermont's Circumferential Highway (Vermont Route 289 or "Circ") courses through Essex, and the section within Essex's jurisdiction has been completed. However, Circ construction has been halted in surrounding communities by court action from environmental protesters.

Bus service is provided by Chittenden County Transportation Authority.

Rail

See also: Essex Junction (Amtrak station)

Amtrak, the national rail passenger system, provides daily service from Essex, operating the Vermonter between St. Albans, Vermont and Washington, D.C. In 2008, a study indicated that the cheapest method for one person to get to New York City from "Burlington" (Essex Junction), was by train at $48 one way. It was also the longest, taking an estimated 9 hours and 25 minutes.

Notable people

• Bert Abbey (1869–1962); pitcher with the Washington Senators, Chicago Colts, and Brooklyn Grooms/Bridegrooms
• William B. Castle, mayor of Cleveland, Ohio
• Steven A. Cray, Adjutant General of Vermont
• Linda K. Myers, member of the Vermont House of Representatives

See also

• Essex Junction, Vermont

External links

• Town of Essex official website
• Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce
• City-Data.com
• ePodunk: Profile for Essex, Vermont
• The Essex Reporter