196 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



•WINDSOR COUNTr. 



WINHALI, 



The site of the village is uneven, and the 

 main street, \vhich passes through it from 

 north to south, is serpentine, making no 

 less than four very obtuse angles within 

 the village; the effect of which is, that 

 not more than about one third of the vil- 

 lage can be seen from any one point of 

 view. The village contains about 125 

 dwelling houses. It is rather compact- 

 ly built, and several of the houses are 

 elegant. The place is much adorn- 

 ed with trees and shrubbery, which, uni- 

 ted witli the hill prospect around, and a 

 fine view of Ascutney mountain, which 

 lies 3 miles southwest of it, render it one 

 of the most pleasant villages in this part 

 of the country. The public buildings are 

 three houses for public worship, a court 

 house, where the U. S. Circuit and Dis- 

 trict Courts meet annually, on the 21st 

 and 27th of May ; the state prison ; and 

 a seminary for young gentlemen and la- 

 dies. The latter is under the charge of 

 Messrs. J. Swett, Jr. and Alonzo Jack- 

 man. For the purpose of afl'ording the 

 village the advantages of water power, in 

 183.) a stone dam was constructed across 

 Mill brook, half a mile from its mouth. It 

 is 3G0 feet in length, .56 in breadth at the 

 base, 12 at the top, and 42 feet in height, 

 forming a reservoir of water nearly one 

 mile in length, with a surface of 100 a- 

 cres, having an available fall of 60 feet in 

 the distance of one third of a mile. The 

 dam is built on the arc of a circle, over 

 which, in flood time, the water flows in 

 an unbroken sheet 10'3 feet in length, 

 forming one of the most beautiful cas- 

 cades in the country. The village con- 

 tains at present 1 grist mill, 1 saw mill, 

 2 tanneries, a post office, 3 tavern.*, 4 law- 

 yers, 4 phj'sicians, a printing office, at 

 which is published the Vermont Chroni- 

 cle, by Bishop & Tracy, stores of dif- 

 ferent kinds, and the usual variety of me- 

 chanics' shops. Many of the houses are 

 elegant, and the village is rendered de- 

 lightful by the shade-trees, shrubbery, 

 and fine gardens. The garden of Hon. 

 Horace Everett offers one of the best spe- 

 cimens of horticultural taste and skill in 

 this section of the countr}'. There are 

 two small villages in the west parish, 

 called Brownstille and Shcddsville. The 

 former has a meeting house, occupied by 

 the Methodists, 2 stores, 1 tavern, 1 saw 

 mill, and several mechanics' shops. The 

 latter has a meeting house, occupied by 

 the Freewill Baptists and Universalists, I 

 store, 1 tavern, 1 tannery, 1 shoe shop, 

 &c. Statistics of 1840. — Hor.ses, .'01 ; 

 cattle, 2,428; sheep, 12,429; swine, 1,- 

 244 ; wheat, bu.shels, 2,864 ; barley, 

 103 ; oats, 15,822 ; rye, 4,077 ; buck- 



wheat, 1,847 ; Indian corn, 12,920 ; pota- 

 tftes, 61,07.5 ; hay, tons, 5,673 ; sugar, lbs. 

 18,320; wool, 25,343. Population ,2,744. 



Windsor County is situated on the 

 east side of the Green Mountains, between 

 43° 13' and 43'" 56' north lat. and between 

 4° 7' and 4° 45' east long, being 48 miles 

 long from north to south, and 30 wide 

 from east to west, and containing about 

 900 square miles. It is bounded north by 

 Orange county, east by Connecticut riv- 

 er, which separates it from Grafton and 

 Cheshire counties, N. H., south by Wind- 

 ham county, and west by Rutland county. 

 This count}' was incorporated in Februa- 

 ry, 1781. Woodstock, situated near the 

 centre of the county, is the seat of justice. 

 The supreme court sits here the 4th Tues- 

 day next following the 4th Tuesday of 

 January, and the county court on the last 

 Tuesday in May and November. There 

 are several pleasant villages in the coun- 

 ty, the most important of which are Wind- 

 sor, Woodstock, Norwich, and Royalton. 

 White river runs across the north part of 

 the county, Quecbee river through the 

 central part, and Black river through the 

 south part. Some of the head branches 

 of West and Williams' rivers rise in the 

 southwestern part. The surface of this 

 county is uneven, but the soil is generally 

 of an excellent quality, producing fine 

 crops of grass, corn, and grain. A range 

 of talco-argillaceous slate passes through 

 the western part of the county, in which 

 several quarries of excellent steatite or 

 soap stone have been opened, particularly 

 in Plymouth, Bridgewater, and Bethel. 

 In tlie southeastern part is an abundance 

 of excellent granite, and primitive lime- 

 stone abounds in the southwestern part, 

 where it is extensively manufactured into 

 lirne, particularly in Plymouth. The 

 rocks in the other parts are principally 

 gneiss, mica slate, and hornblende. A 

 range of a.'-gillaceous slate extends into 

 the northwestern part of the county. The 

 mica and talcose slate, in many places, 

 abounds with garnets. SUUistics of 1840. 

 — Morses, 8,440; cattle, 51,863; sheep, 

 234,826; swine, 22,834; wheat, bu. .56,- 

 659; barley, 5,164; oats, 301,026; rye, 

 46,126; buckwheat, 49,380; Ind. corn, 

 163,897 ; potatoes, 1,072,753 ; hay, tons, 

 107,109; sugar, lbs. 462,444; wool, 552,- 

 770. Population, 40,3.59. 



WiNHALi , a post town in the eastern 

 part of Bennington county, is in lat. 43-" 

 10' and long. 4° 7', and is bounded north 

 by Peru, east by Jamaica and a part of 

 Londonderry, south by Stratton, and west 

 by Manchester. It lies 25 miles northeast 

 from Bennington, 33 southwest from 

 Windsor, and was chartered Septembev 



