Winooski Vermont Real Estate

Chartered: April 1, 1921
Land Area: 8,887 Acres / 1.39 Square Miles
Coordinates: 73°11’W 44°29’N
Altitude ASL: 200 feet
Population: (US Census, 2000): 6,561
Population Density: (persons per square mile): 4,720
Tax Rate: $2.057 (’04)
Equalized Value: $3,330,240 (’04)

The name comes from the Abenaki for “wild onions”, plentiful along the river. The earliest European documentation offering a written approximation of the native word are French-made maps, which identify the river as “Ouinousqui”.

In the southeast corner of Colchester was a fine natural falls in the Winooski (then Onion or French) River (more River info here) where Ira Allen, one of the grantees of Colchester, built grain and lumber mills in about 1772. To protect their interests from marauding French and Indians, he and his cousin Remember Baker built a two-story palisaded enclosure which they called Fort Frederick. Good land nearby attracted settlers, and the community which grew up around the mills and the fort became known as Allen’s Settlement, later as Winooski Falls, then simply Winooski when it was incorporated as a civil entity separate from Colchester.

The large number of French Canadians who came to work in the textile mills in later years resulted in a portion of the city being referred to as French Village. Even today, there is a large enough French-speaking population in the area that the local cable TV system absolutely must carry two French stations out of Montreal.

Emergency Services (Statewide): 911
Police (non-emergency): 802-655-0221
Hospital: Fletcher-Allen Health Care (Burlington) 802-656-2345
Town Clerk: Pauline K. Schmoll, 802-655-6419, 27 West Allen Street Winooski, VT 05404

Schools:

Winooski School District 802-655-0485
J. F. Kennedy Elementary School 802-655-0411
St. Francis Xavier 802-655-2600
Winooski High School 802-655-3530