Castleton, Vermont | |
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Town | |
The "Old Chapel" (Castleton Medical College Building) in Castleton
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Castleton, Vermont |
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Coordinates: 43°37′32″N 73°11′36″W / 43.62556°N 73.19333°WCoordinates: 43°37′32″N 73°11′36″W / 43.62556°N 73.19333°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Vermont |
County | Rutland |
Settled | 1770 |
Chartered | 1761 |
Area | |
• Total | 42.4 sq mi (109.7 km2) |
• Land | 39.0 sq mi (101.1 km2) |
• Water | 3.3 sq mi (8.6 km2) |
Elevation | 650 ft (198 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 4,717 |
• Density | 110/sq mi (43/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 05735 |
Area code(s) | 802 |
FIPS code | 50-11950 |
GNIS feature ID | 1462065 |
Website | castletonvermont |
Castleton is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. Castleton is about 15 miles (24 km) to the west of Rutland, and about 7 miles (11 km) east of the New York/Vermont state border. The town had a population of 4,717 at the 2010 census.Castleton University is located there, with roots dating to 1787.Fort Warren was located in Castleton.
Castleton was settled in 1770, and chartered in 1761. The charter for 36 square miles (93 km2) of land was granted by Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire and divided the land into 70 "rights" or "shares". Governor Wentworth retained ownership of two shares, and several others were given for churches and a school.
Three families had settled in Castleton by 1770. In the spring of 1767, some of the town’s first settlers, Amos Bird and Noah Lee, arrived in Castleton from Salisbury, Connecticut. Castleton's favorite landmark, Birdseye Mountain, is named for Colonel Amos Bird. He had acquired 40 shares of land when the town was chartered and built a permanent residence there in the summer of 1769. More settlers followed, and by 1777 the town consisted of 17 families.
In May 1775 Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys met in Castleton with Benedict Arnold to plan their next day's attack on Fort Ticonderoga, 30 miles (48 km) west, on the New York side of Lake Champlain. Their successful capture of the fort was a holding action that lasted two years until the British launched a powerful sweep southward on Lake Champlain. The battle at nearby Hubbardton, followed by battles at Bennington and Saratoga, marked the turning point of the Revolutionary War in the North. Although German soldiers were stationed in Castleton for a time in 1777, they left as the fortunes of the war changed, and Tory sympathizers were treated with scorn by Castleton settlers.