Springfield, Vermont
Encyclopedia
Springfield is a town in 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...

. The population was 9,373 at the 2010 census.

History

One of the New Hampshire grants
New Hampshire Grants
The New Hampshire Grants or Benning Wentworth Grants were land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by the provincial governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The land grants, totaling about 135 , were made on land claimed by New Hampshire west of the Connecticut River, territory that was also...

, the township was chartered on August 20, 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.-Biography:The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715...

 and awarded to Gideon Lyman and 61 others. Although Springfield's alluvial flats made it among the best agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 towns in the state, the Black River
Black River (Connecticut River)
The Black River is a river in the U.S. state of Vermont, and a tributary of the Connecticut River. The watershed, or drainage basin, consists of some in southeastern Vermont, almost all of which lies in Windsor County.-Course:...

 falls
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

, which drop 110 feet (33.5 m) in 1/8 of a mile (201 m), helped it develop into a mill town
Mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...

. Springfield was located in the center of the Precision Valley region, home of the Vermont machine tool
Machine tool
A machine tool is a machine, typically powered other than by human muscle , used to make manufactured parts in various ways that include cutting or certain other kinds of deformation...

 industry.

In 1888, the Jones and Lamson Machine Tool Company (J&L) moved to Springfield from Windsor
Windsor, Vermont
Windsor is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,756 at the 2000 census.-History:One of the New Hampshire grants, Windsor was chartered as a town on July 6, 1761 by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth. It was first settled in August 1764 by Captain Steele Smith and...

, 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...

 under the successful leadership of James Hartness
James Hartness
James Hartness was an American inventor; a mechanical engineer; an entrepreneur who mentored other inventors to develop their machine tool products and create a thriving industrial center in southeastern Vermont; an amateur astronomer who fostered the construction of telescopes by amateurs in his...

. Gaining international renown for precision and innovation, J&L ushered in a new era of precision manufacturing in the area. Edwin R. Fellows
Edwin R. Fellows
Edwin R. Fellows was an American inventor and entrepreneur from Torrington, Connecticut who designed and built a new type of gear shaper in 1896 and, with the mentoring of James Hartness, left the Jones & Lamson Machine Company to co-found the Fellows Gear Shaper Company in Springfield, Vermont,...

 co-founded the Fellows Gear Shaper Company here in 1896. As knowledge and infrastructure grew to support precision machining, other companies such as the Bryant Chucking Grinder Company
Bryant Chucking Grinder Company
Bryant Chucking Grinder Company is a manufacturer of computer numerical control grinding machines.In 2002, the company, along with Jones and Lamson Machine Tool, was shut down due to owners Goldman Group filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Since then, the company has been acquired by Vermont Machine...

 and Lovejoy Tool formed, grew, and provided much of the economic engine. Springfield Telescope Makers, the oldest amateur telescope makers'
Amateur telescope making
Amateur telescope making is the activity of building telescopes as a hobby, as opposed to being a paid professional. Amateur telescope makers build their instruments for personal enjoyment of a technical challenge, as a way to obtain an inexpensive or personally customized telescope, or as a...

 club in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, has been headquartered in Springfield since its inception in 1920. The club's clubhouse, Stellafane
Stellafane
Stellafane is the name of the clubhouse built by the Springfield Telescope Makers club of Springfield, Vermont in the early 1920s, and has since come to refer to the club's land and buildings on the summit of Breezy Hill...

, has hosted a convention for the geographically scattered club since 1927. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Springfield's production of machine tools was of such importance to the American war effort that the US government ranked Springfield (together with the Cone at Windsor) as the seventh most important bombing target in the country.

Springfield is also home to the Eureka Schoolhouse
Eureka Schoolhouse
Eureka Schoolhouse is a historic school on Carleston Road in Goulds Mill, Vermont.It was built in 1785 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.-External links:* - official site...

, the oldest one-room school
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...

 in the state of 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...

. Completed in 1790, the building was in continuous use until 1900 and was restored in 1968 by the Vermont Board of Historic Sites. The school house was named by its first teacher, David Searle, who, after a long journey through the new frontier was heard to cry "Eureka!" upon reaching the new settlement of Springfield. The name stuck, and "Eureka" can still be found in street and business names throughout Springfield.
Several sites in Springfield, including the historic downtown area, have been designated as having historical significance according to 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...

. Among them are the Hartness House (original home of the entrepreneur and governor) and the Gould's Mill Bridge, a steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...

.

On July 10, 2007, Springfield was selected to host the premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...

 of The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...

, which, like the Simpsons TV show
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, is set in a city called Springfield
Springfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...

. In a Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 competition, Vermont was chosen to host the opening over 13 other places around the nation called Springfield.

Education

Springfield's public school system currently consists of three elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

s, one middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

 grades 6-8, and one 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....

 grades 9-12. These schools are overseen by a five member school board elected individually by staggered elections to three year terms. In 2006 the public technical school, the River Valley Technical Center, left the Springfield School District to form its own district. The Springfield School District is currently undertaking action to renovate its elementary schools. The School Board plans to expand Union Street School and Elm Hill School, while the voters decided in 2008 to cease using Park Street School as a school "As soon as possible" due to prohibitive refurbishment costs and safety issues.

Elementary and middle schools

The city's two public elementary schools are Elm Hill and Union Street Schools.

Riverside Middle School is the town's only public middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

 (grades 6-8).

Springfield High School

Springfield High School
Springfield High School (Vermont)
Springfield High School is a public high school in the southern Vermont town of Springfield. Springfield High School is part of the Springfield School District and serves students from Springfield and neighboring Weathersfield, Vermont...

 is Springfield's only high school.
  • Team Name: Cosmos.
  • School Colors: Green and White.

River Valley Technical Center

The River Valley Technical Center
River Valley Technical Center
River Valley Technical Center is a technical and vocational school located in Springfield, Vermont. It serves students from Springfield High School, Green Mountain Union High School, Bellows Falls Union High School, and Black River High School in Vermont, plus students from Fall Mountain Regional...

 is housed in the Howard Dean Education Center and is adjacent to Springfield High School. The RVTC teaches technical courses to the students of Springfield and surrounding towns of Chester
Chester, Vermont
Chester is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,044 at the 2000 census. The town was originally chartered by New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth as Flamstead in 1754. The terms of the charter were not met and the town was re-chartered as New Flamstead in 1761...

, Bellows Falls
Bellows Falls, Vermont
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,165 at the 2000 census...

, Westminster, Ludlow
Ludlow, Vermont
Ludlow, Vermont may refer to:*Ludlow , Vermont*Ludlow , Vermont...

 and Charlestown
Charlestown, New Hampshire
Charlestown is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,114 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Hubbard State Forest and the headquarters of the Student Conservation Association....

.

Colleges and universities

Springfield is home to branches of the Community College of Vermont
Community College of Vermont
The Community College of Vermont is a two year college founded in 1970 with locations in 12 sites in the state of Vermont. The college is a part of the Vermont State Colleges, a consortium of Vermont's five public colleges governed by a common board of trustees, chancellor, and Council of...

 and the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...

, which are housed in the Howard Dean Education Center.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United 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 town has a total area of 49.5 square miles (128.1 km2), of which 49.3 square miles (127.7 km2) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.4 km2) (0.30%) is water. Bounded on the east by the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...

, Springfield is drained by the Black River
Black River (Connecticut River)
The Black River is a river in the U.S. state of Vermont, and a tributary of the Connecticut River. The watershed, or drainage basin, consists of some in southeastern Vermont, almost all of which lies in Windsor County.-Course:...

.

The town is crossed by Interstate 91
Interstate 91
Interstate 91 is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of New England...

, U.S. Route 5, Vermont Route 11
Vermont Route 11
Vermont Route 11 is an east–west state highway in Vermont, United States. The western end of the highway is at Vermont Route 7A in Manchester. The eastern end is at the New Hampshire border at the Cheshire Bridge over the Connecticut River, connecting Springfield, Vermont and Charlestown, New...

, Vermont Route 91 and Vermont Route 143
Vermont Route 143
Vermont Route 143 is a state highway within the town of Springfield in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. It connects VT 11 to U.S. Route 5. The entirety of VT 143 is maintained by the town of Springfield.-Route description:...

.

Neighboring cities and towns

Demographics

As of the census
Census
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 9,078 people, 3,886 households, and 2,498 families residing in the town. 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 184.1 people per square mile (71.1/km2). There were 4,232 housing units at an average density of 85.8 per square mile (33.1/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 97.60% White, 0.24% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.77% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.18% 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 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population.

There were 3,886 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% 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, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $34,169, and the median income for a family was $42,620. Males had a median income of $31,931 versus $23,019 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 town was $18,452. About 8.3% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

  • Karen Arthur
    Karen Arthur
    Karen Arthur is an American film director, producer, and actress. She has directed two feature films, Lady Beware and The Mafu Cage , but the majority of her work has been in television, where she has had a long and prolific career directing television movies and series...

    , film and television director.
  • Daric Barton
    Daric Barton
    Daric William Barton nicknamed "D.B.", is a Major League Baseball first baseman who plays for the Oakland Athletics....

    , baseball player.
  • Edwin R. Fellows
    Edwin R. Fellows
    Edwin R. Fellows was an American inventor and entrepreneur from Torrington, Connecticut who designed and built a new type of gear shaper in 1896 and, with the mentoring of James Hartness, left the Jones & Lamson Machine Company to co-found the Fellows Gear Shaper Company in Springfield, Vermont,...

    , machine-tool inventor, industrialist
  • Helen Hartness Flanders
    Helen Hartness Flanders
    Helen Hartness Flanders , a native of the U.S. state of Vermont, was an internationally recognized ballad collector and an authority on the folk music found in New England and the British Isles...

    , collector of traditional ballads.
  • Ralph Flanders
    Ralph Flanders
    Ralph Edward Flanders was an American mechanical engineer, industrialist and Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Vermont. He grew up on subsistence farms in Vermont and Rhode Island, became an apprentice first as a machinist, then as a draftsman, before training as a mechanical engineer...

    , machine-tool entrepreneur, banker, senator.
  • Walbridge A. Field
    Walbridge A. Field
    Walbridge Abner Field was an American lawyer, jurist and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, and as the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He was born in North Springfield, Vermont on April 26, 1833. He...

    , congressman.
  • James Hartness
    James Hartness
    James Hartness was an American inventor; a mechanical engineer; an entrepreneur who mentored other inventors to develop their machine tool products and create a thriving industrial center in southeastern Vermont; an amateur astronomer who fostered the construction of telescopes by amateurs in his...

    , inventor, aviator and governor.
  • Dudley C. Haskell
    Dudley C. Haskell
    Dudley Chase Haskell was a nineteenth century politician and merchant from Kansas. He was the grandfather of Otis Halbert Holmes.-Biography:...

    , congressman.
  • Charles B. Hoard
    Charles B. Hoard
    Charles Brooks Hoard was a U.S. Representative from New York.Born in Springfield, Vermont, Hoard attended the public schools....

    , congressman.
  • Joseph B. Johnson
    Joseph B. Johnson
    Joseph Blaine Johnson was an American politician who served as the 70th Governor of the state of Vermont....

    , governor.
  • James Kochalka
    James Kochalka
    James Kochalka is an American comic book artist and writer, and rock musician. His comics are noted for their blending of the real and the surreal...

    , local cartoonist and rock musician.
  • Lewis R. Morris
    Lewis R. Morris
    Lewis Richard Morris was a United States Representative from Vermont and a nephew of Gouverneur Morris and Lewis Morris. Born in Scarsdale, New York, he attended the common schools. He moved to Springfield, Vermont, and from 1781 to 1783 was secretary of foreign affairs...

    , congressman.
  • Russell W. Porter
    Russell W. Porter
    Russell Williams Porter was an American artist, engineer, amateur astronomer and explorer. He was a pioneer in the field of “cutaway illustration" and is sometimes referred to as the "founder" or one of the "founders" of amateur telescope making."-Biography:Russell W...

    , explorer, artist and telescope innovator.
  • Kenny Johnson
    Kenny Johnson
    Kenneth "Kenny" Johnson is an American actor well known for his portrayal of Detective Curtis Lemansky on the American drama The Shield and Detective "Ham" Dewey on Saving Grace.- Early career :...

    , film and television actor.
  • Albert Lovejoy Gutterson, Olympic gold medalist (long jump).

External links


Sites of interest

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