Barton (village), Vermont

In the 19th century, the village was the economic center of the county.[5] Prior to incorporation, the village had been known as "Barton Mills."[6] Tourists from Boston and New York arrived by train and could register in one of three major hotels.[5] The village was incorporated on November 21, 1874.[7]

Fire permanently reshaped the village, starting with the 1883 destruction of the building on the site now occupied by the Pierce Building. The hotels were destroyed, mostly by fire, in 1967 and 1971.[5] The Pierce Block was built in 1885 and is still being used for commercial purposes, one of the few business buildings to survive the multitude of fires that the village has experienced.[8] In 1889, a waterworks was constructed using May Pond. Presumably sewage disposal was constructed concurrently.[9] Water was needed to extinguish fires. Villagers had long been frustrated by their inability to quench fires with existing cisterns, which were replaced by fire hydrants.[10]

In 1895, the village constructed a hydroelectric plant on the Clyde River in West Charleston.[9]

An Indian burial ground was discovered during the excavation for the new Barton Academy in 1907. There is no record of what happened to those artifacts.[11]

In 1907, a ballpark with 200 seats in the grandstand was constructed at the corner of Park and Elm Streets. A professional village team played there and won the professional state championship over rival Orleans in 1908.[12]

There was heavy flooding in 1927 which severely damaged the village.[6]

A fire on August 11, 1938, destroyed three business blocks. The fire ruined any hope of an industrial revival. The Orleans County Monitor commented that it dealt an "irreparable injury to a community struggling to maintain its position as a secondary business and trade center in Vermont."[13]

Fires consumed buildings housing a butter tub factory (2 fires prior to 1916), the Opera House (1929), a cheese factory (1954), and the Monitor building (1968).[5]

In the late 1970s, the federal and state governments stopped the village from dumping raw sewage into the Barton River. Barton's new treatment plant cost $3.6 million, 90% of which was paid for by state and federal governments. The village was not able to separate out its old storm sewers from the sewage system. This has caused subsequent problems during rainstorms.[14]

The village contains three places on the National Register of Historic Places:

1. Crystal Lake Falls Historic District (August 7, 1994)
2. Crystal Lake State Park listed August 30, 2005
3. King Block — 117 High Street (added 20 July 2002)

An article in the local paper inventoried businesses that had been closed with no expectation of reopening, these included 7 gas stations, an automobile franchise, and two restaurants. One of the problems it cited was the highest water and sewage rates in the county.[15]

In 2009, the village spent $474,557 on village operations alone, not including solely owned utilities.[16]

• Chairman, Board of Trustees - Nathan Sicard
• Trustee - Justin Barton-Caplin
• Trustee - Cathy Swain
• DPW Foreman - Andrew Sicard

In 2008, the village voted to eliminate the position of auditor since this was performed by an outside auditor.

Barton Fire Department (all officers are elected by the village voters):

• Chief Engineer (Fire Chief) - David Claeys
• First Assistant Engineer - Mike Pion
• Second Assistant Engineer - Richard Secard

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.7 km²), of which 1.2 square miles (3.2 km²) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.5 km²) (12.59%) is water.

Barton owns Pageant Park on Crystal Lake. This was briefly closed in May 2007 until late June 2007.[27]

Barton has lost 45% of its population since 1940, dropping from the largest village in Orleans County, to third.

As of the census[2] of 2000, there were residing in the village:

• 742 people
• 347 households, and
• 193 families .

The population density was 594.8/sq mi (229.2/km²).

There were 465 housing units at an average density of 372.7/sq mi (143.6/km²).

The racial makeup of the village was:

• White - 96.36%
• from two or more races - 2.29%
• Native American - 0.67%
• Black or African American - 0.40%
• Hispanic or Latino of any race - 0.40%
• other races - 0.27%, and

There were 347 households, out of which

• 44.1% were non-families
• 39.5% were married couples living together
• 38.3% of all households were made up of individuals
• 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them,
• 23.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older
• 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present

The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the village, the population was evenly spread out, with

• 23.5% under the age of 18 (18 year spread)
• 8.0% from 18 to 24 (7 year spread)
• 25.6% from 25 to 44 (20 year spread)
• 22.4% from 45 to 64 (20 year spread)
• 20.6% who were 65 years of age or older

The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.1 males.

A sugar on snow party is held each year on the Village Green, the fourth Saturday in July.[8]

Media related to Barton Village, Vermont at Wikimedia Commons