Orange is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,048 at the 2020 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.0&nbsp;square miles (101.0&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), of which 38.8&nbsp;square miles (100.4&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) is land and 0.2&nbsp;square mile (0.6&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) (0.59%) is water. The Waits River flows through the northeastern part of Orange. Orange is also the site of the Dix Reservoir, the major water supply for adjoining Barre, along with its associated water processing facilities.

Demographics

As of the census At the time, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York were fighting for control of Vermont, including the right to award town charters—a fight eventually won by Vermont. During the Revolution, New York unsuccessfully attempted to award a charter for the town of Kempton, which would have encompassed the same territory as Orange. The first settlement in Orange took place in 1793, when Joseph Williams and his family built a house in the southern portion of the town. Orange was officially organized in 1796 in a meeting which took place at Williams's home, and its first government consisted of: Joseph Thayer as town meeting moderator; John Sloane, town clerk; Thomas Storrs Paine, Fairbanks Bush, and Gould Camp as selectmen (Camp was also town treasurer); Ezra Paine, constable; listers Fairbanks Bush, Ezra Goodale, and Humphrey Hunt; and grand juror Joseph Williams. In 1798, Orange was represented in the Vermont House of Representatives for the first time, following the election of Ezra Goodale.

Notable people

  • Edna Beard, the first woman to serve in both the Vermont House of Representatives and the Vermont Senate
  • Benjamin F. Fifield, lawyer who served as United States Attorney for the District of Vermont from 1869 to 1880
  • Alexander Kennedy Miller, aviator and antique car collector
  • Frank P. Sargent, Railroad union leader, U.S. Commissioner General of Immigration
  • Stanley C. Wilson, Governor of Vermont (1931–1935)

References

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