Castleton is the primary villageAlthough commonly called a village, it is not incorporated as a village. and a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, su ...

(CDP) in the town of Castleton, Rutland County,

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,337, out of 4,458 in the entire town. A large portion of the village is part of the Castleton Village Historic District, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1979. It is also home to Castleton University, founded in 1787, and now part of the Vermont State Colleges system.

Geography

Castleton Village is located in western Rutland County, in the south-central part of the town of Castleton, on the south side of the Castleton River, about midway between Rutland, Vermont, and Whitehall, New York. Main Street runs east-west through the village, designated

Vermont Route 4A Vermont Route 4A (VT 4A) is a east–west state highway in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. It runs from Fair Haven to West Rutland. VT 4A was the former alignment of U.S. Route 4 (US 4) before it was relocated to an ...

; U.S. Route 4, a limited-access highway, runs east-west on the north side of the river. The village center is at North Road and South Street, which provide access to rural parts of the town;

Vermont Route 30 Vermont Route 30 (VT 30) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of Vermont. VT 30 runs from U.S. Route 5 (US 5) and VT 9 in Brattleboro to US 7 and VT 125 in Middlebury. The northern portion, from ...

, the principal north-south artery in the town, is west of the village in the community of Castleton Four Corners. The village has one active rail line, running east-west north of Main Street, that presently carries the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

Ethan Allen Express The ''Ethan Allen Express'' is a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak in the United States between New York City and Burlington, Vermont, via Albany, New York. One daily round trip is operated on a north-south route with a 7 hour 35 min ...

'', stopping at the station at the east end of the village.

History

Castleton Village was settled in the early 1770s, and Main Street was laid out in 1772 as the principal east-west route in the region. In 1775 the village is where

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and fo ...

mustered the

Green Mountain Boys The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which l ...

for the

Capture of Fort Ticonderoga The capture of Fort Ticonderoga occurred during the American Revolutionary War on May 10, 1775, when a small force of Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold surprised and captured the fort's small British garrison. T ...

, early in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

. Castleton College was founded in 1787, and

Castleton Medical College The Castleton Medical College Building, now known as the Old Chapel, is a historic building of the Castleton Medical College on Seminary Street in Castleton, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1818, it was the first medical college in Vermont, an ...

was founded in 1818, both located on the south side of Main Street. The town was prosperous in the 19th century because of the marble and slate industries, and benefited from the construction of two railroad lines in the 1850s. Around the turn of the century the tourist industry, serving summer trade at

Lake Bomoseen Lake Bomoseen ( ) is a freshwater lake in the western part of the U.S. state of Vermont in the towns of Castleton and Hubbardton in Rutland County. It is the largest lake that lies entirely within the state's boundaries, with a surface area of ...

, resulted in the construction of hotels and other service facilities. The village was devastated by a series of fires in the 1910s, which destroyed a number of landmark buildings. Most of the village was listed on the

in 1979 for its 19th-century architectural character.

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Vermont Census-designated places in Rutland County, Vermont Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Federal architecture in Vermont Greek Revival architecture in Vermont Castleton, Vermont National Register of Historic Places in Rutland County, Vermont

Geography

History

See also

References