Essex County, Vermont

Essex County, Vermont
Essex County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Vermont
Vermont's location in the U.S.
Founded	1800
Named for	Essex
Shire Town	Guildhall
Largest town	Lunenburg
Area
• Total	675 sq mi (1,748 km2)
• Land	664 sq mi (1,720 km2)
• Water	12 sq mi (31 km2), 1.7%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	6,163
• Density	9.2/sq mi (4/km²)
Congressional district	At-large
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4

Essex County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,306, making it the least-populous county in both Vermont and New England. Its shire town (county seat) is the municipality of Guildhall. The county was created in 1792 and organized in 1800. Bordered by the Connecticut River next to New Hampshire, Essex County is part of the Berlin, New Hampshire micropolitan area. It is south of the Canadian province of Quebec.

Prior to the arrival of colonists of European descent, the local Abenakis had subsisted largely on moose.

Vermont was divided into two counties in March, 1778. In 1781 the legislature divided the northernmost county, Cumberland, into three counties: Windham and Windsor, in approximately the modern location for those counties. The northern remainder was called Orange County. This latter tract nearly corresponded with the old New York county of Gloucester, organized by that province March 16, 1770, with Newbury as the shire town.

On September 3, 1783, as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the Revolutionary War ended with Great Britain recognizing the independence of the United States. Vermont's border with Quebec was established at 45 degrees north latitude.

On November 5, 1792, the legislature divided Chittenden and Orange counties into six separate counties, as follows: Chittenden, Orange, Franklin, Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans. No reason is given for the county being named after the county of Essex in England.