Berlin, Vermont
| Berlin, Vermont | |
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| Town | |
"Berlin Corner", with the Congregational church on the hilltop
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 Location in Washington County and the state of Vermont |
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 Berlin, Vermont
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| Coordinates: 44°12′55″N 72°35′10″W / 44.21528°N 72.58611°WCoordinates: 44°12′55″N 72°35′10″W / 44.21528°N 72.58611°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Vermont |
| County | Washington |
| Area | |
| • Total | 36.9 sq mi (95.7 km2) |
| • Land | 36.3 sq mi (93.9 km2) |
| • Water | 0.7 sq mi (1.7 km2) |
| Elevation | 879 ft (268 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2,887 |
| • Density | 78/sq mi (30/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 05602, 05641 |
| Area code(s) | 802 |
| FIPS code | 50-05650 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1462042 |
| Website | www |
Berlin is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States, founded in 1763.
The population was 2,887 at the 2010 census. Being the town between Barre and Montpelier, the two largest cities in the region, much of the commercial business of the region can be found in Berlin, including parts of the Barre-Montpelier Road (U.S. Route 302), and the Berlin Mall.
Berlin was chartered June 8, 1763. The name refers to Berlin, Germany, and was the only German town name in this new English colony. The grantees who received the 70 original rights to the township were priests, merchants and judges. The charter was issued by the Royal Governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth, and stated that each "proprietor, settler or inhabitant" should pay one ear of Indian corn for each acre of land, and after ten years, one shilling for each 100 acres.
It took 22 years until the first settlers arrived in the area: Ebenezer Sanborn coming from nearby Corinth, founding the "Bradford farm", and Joseph Thurber from New Hampshire, founding the "Shepard farm". Both left a year later for New York state.
In 1788 a legislature of the state of Vermont stated that "the town of Randolph, Braintree, Brookfield, Roxbury, Williamstown, Northfield, Wildersburgh, Berlin and Montpelier [...] hereby are formed into one entire probate district, by the name of the district of Randolph."
Jacob Fowler, a hunter, was the first settler who stayed and left descendants in town. Other early settlers were Moses Smith, Daniel Morse, John Lathrop, and Hezekiah Silloway. In 1789 thirteen families lived in Berlin, and eight more in 1790. The first child born in Berlin was Abigail Black (1789).
The first town meeting was held on March 31, 1791. The first sawmill was built in the same year, the first school (on East Street) in 1794. The first Christian institution was founded in 1798, with James Hobart as its minister. A Congregational meeting house opened at Berlin center in 1803. After it burned down in 1838 the Congregational Church was built at Berlin Corner.
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Wikipedia