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Norwich is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,612 at the 2020 census. The municipality is a commuter town for nearby Hanover, New Hampshire across the Connecticut River. The town is part of the Dresden School District, the first interstate school district in the United States, signed into law by President John F. Kennedy. The town contains the Norwich Mid-Century Modern Historic District.

History

thumb|150px|left|Alden Partridge,

The boundaries of Norwich were established on July 4, 1761, when Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire defined the boundaries of townships in Vermont. The first settlers reached the area in 1763 and began to clear the wilderness and erect the first hand-hewn log buildings, wintering over for the first time in 1765. Early settlements occurred along the Ompompanoosuc River. Later, the current village site became settled. The first town meeting occurred in April 1768. The first Congregational church was founded in 1770 and a structure built in 1778. The population grew from 206 in 1771 to 1,158 in 1791 and 2,316 in 1830. In the original charter, the name was spelled "Norwhich", but the additional 'h' was dropped shortly after the town was chartered. Originally pronounced "Norritch" (similar to the English pronunciation of the city of Norwich, England), the town name has in more recent times become more commonly pronounced "Nor-wich".

Alden Partridge and the founding of Norwich University

In 1819 native son, Alden Partridge, a former Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, founded the private "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy" in Norwich. He hoped to establish a new "American system" for training cadets that included both humanities and science topics in the curriculum, in addition to military science. In his six years of Norwich residency, Partridge achieved an academy population of nearly 500 "cadets". He moved that school back to Middletown, Connecticut, in 1825, but returned in 1835 with a charter from the U.S. Congress to found another military academy, which remained in Norwich until 1866, when it burned to the ground. The school then relocated to Northfield, Vermont, where it exists today as Norwich University.

Geography

thumb|300px|left|Norwich pastureland in late October

Norwich lies on the western bank of the Connecticut River, which forms Vermont's boundary with New Hampshire, opposite its companion town, Hanover, New Hampshire. The Ledyard Bridge connects the two towns. The Vermont towns bordering Norwich are Thetford to the north, Sharon to the west, and Hartford to the south.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.05%, is water. The Ompompanoosuc River flows into the Connecticut River in the northeastern part of the town.

The landscape is hilly and wooded. The elevation of the town center is . The hills in the town include the Griggs Mountain in the southwestern section and the Gile Mountain in the northwestern section.

Demographics

As of the census Adjacent to the general store is a restored historic inn with a restaurant and brew pub.

The Montshire Museum of Science and King Arthur Baking Company are located in Norwich.

Education

Norwich maintains one of the few interstate public school systems, the Dresden School District, commissioned by President John F. Kennedy, which is shared by the towns of Norwich and Hanover, New Hampshire. Students attend Marion Cross School in Norwich for kindergarten through sixth grade, Richmond Middle School in Hanover for grades seven and eight, and Hanover High School in Hanover for grades nine through twelve.

Transportation

Major transportation routes, which run parallel through the Connecticut River valley, include Interstate 91 (Exit 13 serves the town), U.S. Route 5 and the former Boston and Maine Railroad right of way, now owned by the State of Vermont. The Appalachian Trail passes south to east through the town from Hartford to Hanover, New Hampshire.

Notable people

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  • Elizabeth Emerson Atwater, 19th-century botanist
  • William Barron, United States Marshal for the District of Vermont
  • Charles L. Bartlett, Mayor of Marlborough, Massachusetts
  • Paul Brigham, second governor of Vermont
  • Heinrich Brüning, German chancellor of the Weimar Republic
  • Daniel Azro Ashley Buck, US congressman
  • Nicholas A. Christakis, sociologist, professor and physician
  • Zerah Colburn, child prodigy "mental calculator"
  • George A. Converse, Spanish–American War era navy admiral
  • Jonathan Finer, former deputy national security advisor in Biden administration
  • Joseph D. Hatch, Vermont state legislator and mayor of Burlington, Vermont
  • Jim Holland, Olympic ski jumper (1992 & 1994)
  • Joe Holland, Olympic Nordic combined skier (1988 & 1992)
  • Mike Holland, Olympic ski jumper (1984 & 1988)
  • Hannah Kearney, Olympic medalist mogul skier (2010 gold, 2014 bronze)
  • Bob Keeshan, television's "Captain Kangaroo"
  • Laurence G. Leavitt, headmaster of Vermont Academy, Saxtons River
  • Tony Lupien, first baseman with the Red Sox, Phillies and White Sox
  • David Macaulay, author and illustrator
  • Felix McGrath, Olympic alpine skier
  • Freya von Moltke, author and lecturer on German resistance to Nazism
  • Robby Mook, presidential campaign manager for Hillary Clinton
  • George Sylvester Morris, educator and philosophical writer
  • Alden Partridge, founder of Norwich University
  • Kevin Pearce, snowboarder
  • Simon Pearce, glassblower; designer; restaurateur
  • Thomas E. G. Ransom, general in the American Civil War
  • Paul Sample, artist
  • Walter H. Stockmayer, chemist and Dartmouth College professor
  • Peter Welch, U.S. Senator; former U.S. Congressman and Minority Leader of the Vermont Senate
  • Andrew Wheating, Olympic 800-meter runner (2008)
  • Edward Bancroft Williston, Medal of Honor recipient