Guilford

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.0 square miles (104 km2), of which 39.9 square miles (103 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (0.20%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 2,121 people, 902 households, and 574 families residing in the town. The population density was 53.2 people per square mile (20.5 people/km2). There were 1,038 housing units at an average density of 26.0 per square mile (10.0/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 97.2% White, 0.5% African American, 0.0% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population.

There were 902 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were husbands and wives living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present. 36.4% of all households were non-families, and 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.2% 19 years old or younger, 3.9% from 20 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 37.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $57,674, and the median income for a family was $77,431. Full-time working males had a median income of $42,250 versus $31,725 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,612. About 2.9% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.2% of those under the age of 18 and 2.5% of those 65 and older.

Historical timeline

1732 – Chartered as Gallup's Canada, Massachusetts

1754 – Chartered as Guilford, New Hampshire

1758 – Chartered as Guilford, New York

1760 or 1761 – First settler arrives, either Lucy Terry (1760) or Michah Rice (1761)

1782 – First house and barn built in Guilford burn down

1791 – Chartered as Guilford, Vermont

1791-1820 – Guilford is most populous town in Vermont

1816 – First Episcopal church in Vermont built in Guilford, Christ Church

1817 – Broad Brook House built, now houses the Guilford Country Store

1820 – East Guilford Cotton Mill on Bee Barn Road burns down

1822 – First Guilford Town Hall built on Guilford Center Road in Guilford Center, now historical museum

1837 – Universalist church built in Guilford Center

1855 – Algiers (East Guilford) schoolhouse burns down

1884 – Broad Brook Grange Hall #151 built in Guilford Center

1885 – Green River Paper Mill burns down

1889 – East Guilford Grist Mill, first mill built in Guilford, burns down

Notable people

Benjamin Carpenter, Lieutenant Governor, buried in West Guilford's Carpenter Cemetery

James Elliot, author and United States Representative from Vermont

Halbert S. Greenleaf, former US Congressman from New York

Christopher Hitchens, writer, was Olivia Wilde's babysitter for a time

Jonathan Hunt, former Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and early landowner in Guilford

Charles E. Phelps, US Army brigadier general; Medal of Honor recipient; US congressman

John W. Phelps, brigadier general in the American Civil War and abolitionist

Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist

John Shepardson, one of the first settlers of Guilford, justice of the Vermont Supreme Court

Lucy Terry, African-American poet

Royall Tyler, playwright

Olivia Wilde, actress.