Greensboro is the southernmost town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 811 at the 2020 census. The town includes the places of Campbells Corners, East Greensboro, Gebbie Corner, Greensboro Four Corners, Greensboro Bend, Tolman(s) Corner, and Burlington Point. Greensboro Bend and the central village of Greensboro are classified as census-designated places.

History

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Greensboro was chartered in 1781. The town was named for Timothy Green, one of the original charter recipients and an original landowner under the charter. However, there is no evidence that he ever visited the town, and his land was sold for non-payment of taxes a few decades after he received it.<sup>:13-14</sup> Only three of the original proprietors settled in the town; most likely, the others were land speculators who sold their land to others or let it be sold at tax sales when buyers could not be found. on what is now known as Block House Hill

thumb|left|200px|Greensboro town offices

In the early 20th century, a development near the Highland Lodge contained restrictive covenants in the title forbidding subsequent resale to Jews. These restrictions were found to be illegal by the US Supreme Court in 1948. being open only for room and cottage rentals, but a group of investors purchased the property in December 2016 and have reopened the Lodge and restaurant seasonally.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.4&nbsp;square miles (102.0&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), of which 37.8&nbsp;square miles (97.8&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) is land and 1.6&nbsp;square miles (4.2&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) (4.11%) is water.

The town includes Caspian Lake and most of Eligo Pond, also known as Lake Eligo.

Demographics

As of the census

Greensboro has the highest per capita income in Orleans County for a town. Newport city is higher. Greensboro's income ranks it 129th out of 282 census areas in Vermont.

Industry

Circus Smirkus, a non-profit youth circus, is based here. The company was founded in Greensboro by Rob Mermin in 1987.

The Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency (GAAR), the summer wing of The Mirror Theater Ltd, was formed here in 2005 to mix professional Mirror Repertory Company members with local community members. In 2016, GAAR performed the American premiere of Joshua Sobol's Sinners, directed by Brian Cox, in Greensboro.

Hill Farmstead Brewery is a local craft brewery that was named by RateBeer in 2015 as the "Best Brewery in the World", "Best Brewery in the United States", and "Top Brewery in Vermont". It was previously voted the Best Brewery in the World in 2012 and 2014 as well.

Jasper Hill Farm was awarded "Best Unpasteurized Cheese" for its Bayley Hazen Blue at the 2014 World Cheese Awards in London.

Tourism

thumb|Aerial photo of Greensboro village with Caspian Lake in the background

Caspian Lake is surrounded by cottages, many available for summer rental.

The lake is used for boating, sailing and fishing. There is a public beach at the south end, in town, with a boat ramp. Wake boats are prohibited from accessing the lake via the beach.

The one inn in town, the Highland Lodge, rents rooms and cottages, and holds group events.

Ice fishing is popular.

Greensboro has a nine-hole golf course, Mountain View, since circa 1898, with views of the lake and Mount Mansfield.

Community

The Greensboro Association was founded in 1934 to conceive, advance, and support village initiatives and organizations.

Greensboro was the setting of a short film called The Abels House is Green directed by part-time resident Duncan M. Rogers.

The hub of town is a general store called Willeys.

The Green Mountain Monastery, a community of women, was formed here in 1999.

Notable people

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  • Alfred Barr, art historian and the first director of the Museum of Modern Art
  • Harriet Beecher Conant, physician
  • James F. Fixx, Editor, Author and Greensboro summer resident 1961-1983.
  • Robert Gilpin, professor emeritus at Princeton University
  • Warner A. Graham, Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
  • Andrew Johnson, cross-country skier
  • Bliss Perry, scholar and editor
  • Benjamin H. Randall, politician and businessman
  • William Hubbs Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States
  • Wallace Stegner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
  • Anna E. Stoddard (1852-1936), writer, journalist, social reformer

References