West Rutland, Vermont | |
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Town | |
High school in West Rutland
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West Rutland, Vermont |
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Coordinates: 43°35′53″N 73°3′3″W / 43.59806°N 73.05083°WCoordinates: 43°35′53″N 73°3′3″W / 43.59806°N 73.05083°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Vermont |
County | Rutland |
NECTA | Rutland |
Chartered | 1886 |
Area | |
• Total | 18.0 sq mi (46.6 km2) |
• Land | 18.0 sq mi (46.6 km2) |
• Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
Elevation | 489 ft (149 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 2,326 |
• Density | 130/sq mi (50/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 05777 |
Area code(s) | 802 |
FIPS code | 50-82300 |
GNIS feature ID | 1462256 |
West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,326 at the 2010 census. The town center, located in the south central portion of the town and where about 87% of the population resides, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). The town is part of the Rutland micropolitan NECTA.
West Rutland has many small businesses, many of which are found on Marble Street, the town's main street. Other businesses include Boardman Hill Farm and the Carving Studio & Sculpture Center.
The town has a small K-12 public school, West Rutland School, which students of all ages attend.
The town of Rutland was originally granted in 1761 as one of the New Hampshire Grants and named after Rutland, Massachusetts, the home of the first grantee, John Murrey. It was one of the most successful of those grants because of excellent farmland and gentle topography.
In 1863, there was rioting in West Rutland after the state instituted a draft.
During a strike in 1868, owners evicted Irish-Catholic workers from company-owned homes, then imported dozens of French-Canadian Catholic "strikebreakers" to replace them.
In the early 19th century, small high-quality marble deposits were discovered in Rutland, and in the 1830s a large deposit of nearly solid marble of high quality was found in what is now West Rutland. By the 1840s small firms had begun operations, but marble quarries only became profitable when the railroad arrived in 1851. At the same time, the famous quarries of Carrara in Tuscany, Italy, became largely unworkable because of their extreme depth, and Rutland quickly became one of the leading producers of marble in the world.