Norwich, VT
Norwich is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States, located along the Connecticut River opposite Hanover, New Hampshire. The population was 3,544 at the 2000 census.
The town was named after Norwich, Connecticut, the state from which the first settlers originated. In the original charter, the name was spelled "Norwhich", but the additional 'h' was dropped shortly after the town was chartered.[3] Originally pronounced Norritch (similar to the English pronunciation of the city of Norwich) the town name has in more recent times become more commonly pronounced Nor-wich. Norwich University was located here originally. It moved to Northfield in 1866 after a fire devastated the campus.
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Population (2008): 3,523 |
Total Area: 44.7 square miles |
| Past Growth: - 0.6% | Tax Rate: $1.9360/$100 |
| Population Density: 79 people per square mile | Non-Homestead Tax Rate: $1.8373/$100 |
| Median Family Income (2008): $84,234 | Town Clerk: (802) 649-1419, Ext. 103 |
| Median House Value (2008): $487,480 |
Town Website: www.norwich.vt.us |
The boundaries of Norwich were established on July 4, 1761, when Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire defined the boundaries of townships in Vermont. The first settlers reached the area in 1763 and began to clear the wilderness and erect the first hand-hewn log buildings, wintering over for the first time in 1765. Early settlements occurred along the Ompompanoosuc River. Later, the current village site became settled. The first town meeting occurred in April 1768. The first Congregational Church was founded in 1770 and a structure built in 1778. The population grew from 206 in 1771 to 1158 in 1791 and 2316 in 1830. [4]
In 1819, Alden Partridge, a former Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point founded the private American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy in Norwich. He hoped to establish a new “American system” for training cadets that included both humanities and science topics in the curriculum, in addition to military science. In his six years of Norwich residency, Partridge achieved an academy population of nearly 500 “cadets.” He moved that school back to Middletown, Connecticut in 1825, but returned in 1835 with a charter from the U.S. Congress to found another military academy, which remained in Norwich until 1866 when it burned to the ground. The school then relocated to Northfield, Vermont, where it exists today as Norwich University.
Information obtained from the town of Norwich website, Wikipedia and City-Data.com