Counties of Vermont
LocationState of Vermont
Number14
Populations5,994 (Essex) – 169,301 (Chittenden)
Areas83 square miles (210 km2) (Grand Isle) – 971 square miles (2,510 km2) (Windsor)
Government
Subdivisions
  • Cities, towns, villages, unincorporated communities

There are fourteen counties in the U.S. state of Vermont. These counties together contain 255 political units, or places, including 237 towns, 9 cities, 5 unincorporated areas, and 4 gores. Each county has a county seat, often referred to as a "shire town."

In 1779, Vermont had two counties. The western side of the state was Bennington County and the eastern was Cumberland County.[1] In 1781, three new counties (including then-called Washington that became part of New Hampshire) were created out of Cumberland County, and the remainder of the county was renamed Windham. Today's Washington County was created in 1810 as Jefferson County; it was renamed Washington in 1814.

Essex County, Orleans County, and Caledonia County are commonly referred to as the Northeast Kingdom.

The FIPS county code is the five-digit Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code which uniquely identifies counties and county equivalents in the United States. The three-digit number is unique to each individual county within a state, but to be unique within the entire United States, it must be prefixed by the state code. This means that, for example, while Addison County, Vermont is 001, Belknap County, New Hampshire and Alachua County, Florida are also 001. To uniquely identify Addison County, Vermont, one must use the state code of 50 plus the county code of 001; therefore, the unique nationwide identifier for Addison County, Vermont is 50001. The links in the column FIPS County Code are to the Census Bureau Info page for that county.[2]

List

County
 FIPS code[2] Shire town[3] Est.[3] [4] Origin[5] Etymology[5] Population[6] Area[3][7] Map
Addison County 001 Middlebury October 18, 1785 Part of Rutland County. Joseph Addison (1672–1719), an English politician and writer. 37,578 770 sq mi
(1,994 km2)		 State map highlighting Addison County
Bennington County 003 Bennington,
Manchester		 February 11, 1779 One of the original two counties. Benning Wentworth (1696–1770), the colonial governor of New Hampshire (1741–1766). 37,392 676 sq mi
(1,751 km2)		 State map highlighting Bennington County
Caledonia County 005 St. Johnsbury November 5, 1792 Part of Orange County. Latin name for Scotland. 30,579 651 sq mi
(1,686 km2)		 State map highlighting Caledonia County
Chittenden County 007 Burlington October 22, 1787 Part of Addison County. Thomas Chittenden (1730–1797), first governor of Vermont (1791–1797). 169,301 539 sq mi
(1,396 km2)		 State map highlighting Chittenden County
Essex County 009 Guildhall November 5, 1792 Part of Orange County. Essex, a county in England. 5,994 665 sq mi
(1,722 km2)		 State map highlighting Essex County
Franklin County 011 St. Albans (city) November 5, 1792 Part of Chittenden County. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), one of the most revered Founding Fathers of the United States. 50,731 637 sq mi
(1,650 km2)		 State map highlighting Franklin County
Grand Isle County 013 North Hero November 9, 1802 Part of Chittenden County and Franklin County. Largest island in Lake Champlain. 7,489 83 sq mi
(215 km2)		 State map highlighting Grand Isle County
Lamoille County 015 Hyde Park (town) October 26, 1835 Parts of Chittenden County, Franklin County, Orleans County and Washington County. La Mouette (meaning the seagull), named by French explorer Samuel de Champlain (~1570–1635) but mistranscibed as La Mouelle and eventually corrupted to current spelling. 26,090 461 sq mi
(1,194 km2)		 State map highlighting Lamoille County
Orange County 017 Chelsea February 22, 1781 Part of Cumberland County. Prince William (1650–1702) of Orange. 29,846 689 sq mi
(1,785 km2)		 State map highlighting Orange County
Orleans County 019 Newport (city) November 5, 1792 Part of Chittenden County and Orange County. City of Orléans, France. 27,666 697 sq mi
(1,805 km2)		 State map highlighting Orleans County
Rutland County 021 Rutland (city) February 22, 1781 Part of Bennington County. Town of Rutland, Massachusetts. 60,366 932 sq mi
(2,414 km2)		 State map highlighting Rutland County
Washington County 023 Montpelier November 1, 1810 Parts of Orange County, Caledonia County, and Chittenden County. Renamed from Jefferson County to Washington County on November 8, 1814 George Washington (1732–1799), first President of the United States (1789–1797). 60,048 690 sq mi
(1,787 km2)		 State map highlighting Washington County
Windham County 025 Newfane February 22, 1779[a]
(as Cumberland County)
(renamed 1781)		 One of the original two counties. Town of Windham, Connecticut. 45,842 789 sq mi
(2,044 km2)		 State map highlighting Windham County
Windsor County 027 Woodstock February 22, 1781 Part of Cumberland County. Town of Windsor, Connecticut. 58,142 971 sq mi
(2,515 km2)		 State map highlighting Windsor County


See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ "Vermont County Information". Genealogy Trails. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  2. ^ a b "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA. Archived from the original on 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  3. ^ a b c "NACo - Find a county". National Association of Counties. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  4. ^ "Vermont County Creation Dates and Parent Counties". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  5. ^ a b Kane, Joseph & Aiken, Charles (2004). The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, and Population Data, 1950-2000. Scarecrow Press. p. 1. ISBN 0-8108-5036-2. Retrieved September 11, 2016. Origins of County Names.
  6. ^ "Vermont QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 2, 2023. (2022 Census estimate)
  7. ^ "Vermont QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved September 11, 2016. (2010 Census)
  8. ^ "Vermont: Consolidated Chronology of State and County Boundaries". The Newberry Library. 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2009-06-03.

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