Facts

• Map - http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=burlington,+vermont&om=1
• Chittenden County Chartered: June 7, 1763 ( New Hampshire Grant)
• Area: 26,465 Acres = 41.35 Square Miles [ Size Rank: 103* ]
• Coordinates (Geographic Center): 72°53''W 44°22'N
• Altitude: 342 feet ASL
• Population (US Census, 2000): 971 [ Population Rank: 164* ]
• Population Density (persons per square mile): 23.5 [ Density Rank: 172* ]

*Area, Population and Density rankings above refer to Bolton's relative position among Vermont's 255 civic entities (9 cities, 242 towns, 4 gores and grants). Complete rankings are here.

History

Bolton may have been named for Charles Paulet (sometimes Powlet), the fifth Duke of Bolton. He came from a powerful old family, but was not personally notable. His brother Harry, on the other hand, who succeeded him in 1765, had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy and in British government, and strongly opposed the war against the American colonies. Benning Wentworth may have been thinking of the Dukedom as a whole in choosing the name.

The men who bought the grant didn't get much for their money. The Winooski River flows through the center of town, with tillable land along its banks, but Bolton is otherwise rocky and mountainous. W.S.Rann's 1886 history of Chittenden County refers to it as "the land of boulders and bears."

The town has more than twenty mountains of over 2,000 feet, and nearly as many more just under that height. Good spot for a ski area.

Material excerpted or adapted from Esther Munroe Swift's

Vermont Place-Names: Footprints of History

(Used with permission)

Town Clerk: Deborah LaRiviere, 802-434-5075, 3045 Roosevelt Highway Waterbury, VT 05676

Schools

• Chittenden East Supervisory Union 802-434-2128
• Brewster Pierce School 802-434-2074
• Browns River Middle School 802-899-3711
• Camels Hump Middle School 802-434-2188
• Jericho Elementary School 802-899-2272
• Mt. Mansfield Union High School 802-899-4690
• Richmond Elementary School 802-434-2461
• Smilie Memorial School 802-434-2757
• Underhill Central School 802-899-4676
• Underhill ID School 802-899-4680