Ludlow (village), Vermont
Encyclopedia
Ludlow is an incorporated village
within the town
of Ludlow
, Windsor County, Vermont
, United States
. It is sometimes called Ludlow Village, to distinguish it from the surrounding town of the same name. The population was 958 at the 2000 census.
, the village has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.5 km²), all land.
manufacture in 1834 and operated until 1837, when the business failed in the economic panic of that year
. After sitting vacant for a time, it was sold and had resumed operation by 1853. The mill complex, by then including a machine shop, sawmill
, and boardinghouse, changed hands again in 1856 and 1864. The original building, which was five stories tall, burned in 1865 and was rebuilt as the three-story brick building that remains today. By 1885 it was known as the "Ludlow Woolen Company" and included sections for spinning
, carding
, weaving
, dressing, finishing and dyeing
wool. As of 1899, it employed 130 people and produced 150,000 yards of wool cloth annually. Early in the 20th century the mill took the name “Verd Mont Mills Company,” but later it was called the “Gaymont Woolen Mill.” General Electric
acquired it in 1952 and retained ownership until 1976.
Black River Academy
was chartered in Ludlow in 1835 and operated as a school, serving as the Town of Ludlow's public high school
until 1938, when a new school was built. The original academy building burned early in the school's history, and the school operated in a church for 44 years until a new school building was built in 1888. Notable alumni of the Black River Academy include U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
; Rotary
founder Paul P. Harris
; John Garibaldi Sargent, who was U.S. Attorney General during Coolidge's Presidency; and Vermont governor William W. Stickney
. After the school closed, the Richardsonian school building was used for a time as a convalescent home. Since 1972 it has housed the Black River Academy Museum and Historical Society, a museum
of local history.
Part of the village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2007 as the Ludlow Village Historic District. The district includes 26 contributing properties
over an area of 9 acres (36,421.7 m²). The district is located along a section of Main Street (Vermont Route 103
) and Depot Street and includes the former Ludlow Woolen Mills (now housing a condominium
and several retail businesses), post office
, meeting hall, Black River Academy, fire house
, and several churches, businesses, and residences.
of 2000, there were 958 people, 437 households, and 221 families residing in the village. The population density
was 707.2 people per square mile (274.0/km²). There were 731 housing units at an average density of 539.6/sq mi (209.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.70% White, 0.31% Black or African American
, 0.10% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.52% from other races
, and 0.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.31% of the population.
There were 437 households out of which 20.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.7% were married couples
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.4% were non-families. 40.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the village the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 83.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $29,698, and the median income for a family was $40,703. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $20,455 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $19,824. About 6.7% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.1% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.
Village (Vermont)
In the U.S. state of Vermont, villages are named communities located within the boundaries of an incorporated town. Villages may be incorporated or unincorporated....
within the town
New England town
The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...
of Ludlow
Ludlow (town), Vermont
Ludlow is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,449 at the 2000 census. Ludlow is the home of Okemo Mountain, a popular skiing area.-Geography:...
, Windsor County, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is sometimes called Ludlow Village, to distinguish it from the surrounding town of the same name. The population was 958 at the 2000 census.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.5 km²), all land.
History
Ludlow Woolen Mills is a prominent feature of the village and its history. The mill was first built for woolenWoolen
Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn...
manufacture in 1834 and operated until 1837, when the business failed in the economic panic of that year
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...
. After sitting vacant for a time, it was sold and had resumed operation by 1853. The mill complex, by then including a machine shop, sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, and boardinghouse, changed hands again in 1856 and 1864. The original building, which was five stories tall, burned in 1865 and was rebuilt as the three-story brick building that remains today. By 1885 it was known as the "Ludlow Woolen Company" and included sections for spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
, carding
Carding
Carding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
, weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
, dressing, finishing and dyeing
Dyeing
Dyeing is the process of adding color to textile products like fibers, yarns, and fabrics. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular chemical material. After dyeing, dye molecules have uncut Chemical bond with fiber molecules. The temperature and time controlling...
wool. As of 1899, it employed 130 people and produced 150,000 yards of wool cloth annually. Early in the 20th century the mill took the name “Verd Mont Mills Company,” but later it was called the “Gaymont Woolen Mill.” General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
acquired it in 1952 and retained ownership until 1976.
Black River Academy
Black River Academy
Black River Academy is a historic academy on High Street in the village of Ludlow in Vermont.Black River Academy was chartered in Ludlow in 1835 and operated as a school, serving as the Town of Ludlow's public high school until 1938, when a new school was built...
was chartered in Ludlow in 1835 and operated as a school, serving as the Town of Ludlow's public high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
until 1938, when a new school was built. The original academy building burned early in the school's history, and the school operated in a church for 44 years until a new school building was built in 1888. Notable alumni of the Black River Academy include U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
; Rotary
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
founder Paul P. Harris
Paul P. Harris
Paul Percy Harris was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney best known for founding Rotary International in 1905, a service organization that currently has well over one million members worldwide.-Biography:...
; John Garibaldi Sargent, who was U.S. Attorney General during Coolidge's Presidency; and Vermont governor William W. Stickney
William W. Stickney
William Wallace Stickney was a Vermont lawyer and politician. A Republican, he served as the 48th Governor of Vermont from 1900 to 1902....
. After the school closed, the Richardsonian school building was used for a time as a convalescent home. Since 1972 it has housed the Black River Academy Museum and Historical Society, a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of local history.
Part of the village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2007 as the Ludlow Village Historic District. The district includes 26 contributing properties
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
over an area of 9 acres (36,421.7 m²). The district is located along a section of Main Street (Vermont Route 103
Vermont Route 103
Vermont Route 103 is a north–south state highway in southern Vermont, United States. It runs from Rockingham in the east to Clarendon near Rutland in the west...
) and Depot Street and includes the former Ludlow Woolen Mills (now housing a condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
and several retail businesses), post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, meeting hall, Black River Academy, fire house
Fire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
, and several churches, businesses, and residences.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 958 people, 437 households, and 221 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 707.2 people per square mile (274.0/km²). There were 731 housing units at an average density of 539.6/sq mi (209.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.70% White, 0.31% Black or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.10% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.52% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.31% of the population.
There were 437 households out of which 20.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.4% were non-families. 40.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the village the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 83.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $29,698, and the median income for a family was $40,703. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $20,455 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $19,824. About 6.7% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.1% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.