Essex Vermont Real Estate

Chartered: June 7, 1763 (New Hampshire Grant)
Land Area: 25,214 Acres / 39.4 Square Miles
Coordinates: 73°04’W 44°31’N
Altitude ASL: 492 feet
Population: (US Census, 2000): 18,626
Population Density: (persons per square mile): 472.7
Tax Rate: $2.057 (’04)
Equalized Value: $ (’04)

Essex can be a bit confusing in the same way as the town of Chittenden and Washington: neither is in the county of the same name.

The name could derive from any of a number of sources, back to Essex, England; Benning Wentworth’s specific intent is not known. The Earl of Essex at the time was William Anne Holles Capel, Lord of the Bedchamber and Master of the Royal Staghounds, not exactly highly placed in the peerage. Nor was he a friend of the Colonies: he voted against repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766.

Well watered by several streams and not too hilly, the land attracted settlers early.

Emergency Services (Statewide): 911
Police (non-emergency): 802-878-8331
Hospital: Fletcher-Allen Health Care (Burlington) 802-656-2345
Town Clerk: Cheryl L. Moomey , 802-879-0413, 81 Main Street Essex Junction, VT 05452

Schools:

Essex Town School District 802-878-8168

Thanks to Virtual Vermont

Essex Junction

Village in the town of Essex, Chittenden County
Village Incorporated: November 15, 1892
Altitude ASL: 358 feet
Tax Rate: $2.057 (’04)
Equalized Value: $8,445,360 (’04)

Originally Hubbell’s Falls, after a settler who built a mill at the only usable falls east of Winooski. Renamed Painesville in the mid-19th century to honor then Governor Charles Paine of Northfield.

Paine was a big name in railroading in Vermont, and as close to a crook the state has ever had in executive office. He and other railroad officials stood to gain greatly from railroad routes, so it was they who determined where the roads would go. Never mind grades just short of impossible for the trains of the time. Never mind the communities the routes supposedly were to serve (evidence that main lines missed both Burlington and Montpelier entirely, requiring passengers and freight to be shuttled to the nearest junction).

“Essex Junction” was the railroad designation, and conductors had for years identified it as such as they announced the stop, completely confounding the hapless traveller en route to Burlington, finding himself on a rail platform in a town he had never heard of. That name was offically adopted in 1865.

Until recently, Essex Junction held the dubious distinction of being the home of the busiest intersection in the state, with Routes 15, 2A and 117 forming what is known locally as “Five Corners” in the center of the Village. Toss in a still-active rail junction (tracks cross all three routes within yards of the intersection), and you get rather frustrating traffic backups. Many were those motorists who found themselves at a dead stop, either unaware of the rail schedule or unable to take an alternate route.

The construction of one leg of the long awaited, long-contested (depending on viewpoint) Circumferential Highway (Route 289) in the mid 90s relieved some of that load, allowing much of the traffic to and from what are essentially the bedroom communities further out Route 15 to bypass Five Corners. That doesn’t especially please the businesses that were on or near the heaviest travelled roads and dependant on the traffic. (The Busiest Intersection Award, by the way, now goes to Williston Road at Dorset Street in South Burlington.)

A considerable quantity of IBM’s microprocessor chips are manufactured in Essex Junction. Did Thomas Watson’s love of skiing influence a plant being located here? You bet. Both the rail junction and proximity to Stowe contributed heavily to the growth of Chittenden county. The town and village benefitted greatly in their school system and infrastructure, while the county and beyond benefitted from the thousands of jobs.

Emergency Services (Statewide): 911
Police (non-emergency): 802-878-8331
Hospital: Fletcher-Allen Health Care (Burlington) 802-656-2345
Town Clerk: 802-878-6944, 2 Lincoln Street

Schools:

Chittenden Central Supervisory Union 802-878-5579
Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School 802-878-1388
Essex Elementary School 802-878-2584
Founders Memorial School 802-879-6326
Hiawatha School 802-878-1384
Summit Street School 802-878-1377
Thomas Fleming School 802-878-1381
Essex Middle School 802-879-7173
Essex Community Educational Center 802-879-7121
Essex Junction Regional Tech Center 802-879-5562

Thanks to Virtual Vermont