Orwell is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2020 census. Mount Independence was the largest fortification constructed by the American colonial forces. The site is now one of Vermont's premier state-operated historic sites.

Geography

Orwell is located in the southwest corner of Addison County. Its western border is the New York–Vermont state line, following the middle of Lake Champlain, near the lake's southern end. Orwell is bordered by the town of Shoreham to the north, Whiting to the northeast, Sudbury to the east and southeast, and Benson to the south. Sudbury and Benson are within Rutland County. To the west, across Lake Champlain, are the town of Putnam, New York, in Washington County, and Ticonderoga, New York, in Essex County. Mount Independence, elevation , is located in northwest Orwell, overlooking Lake Champlain and the town of Ticonderoga.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Orwell has a total area of , of which is land and , or 5.02%, is water.

Vermont Route 22A runs through the town, leading north to Vergennes and south to Fair Haven, where it continues into New York. Vermont Route 73 crosses Route 22A west of the town center and leads east to Brandon and northwest to the Ticonderoga–Larrabees Point Ferry across Lake Champlain.

Demographics

As of the census The fortress was passed between the British and Colonials, until it was eventually abandoned at the cessation of hostilities on the northern front of the war.

Orwell enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity after the war's conclusion, marking a time of great emotional uprising and town glee. However, these bright times would be marred by several major tragedies that coincided with the attempted industrialization of the area's farmlands in the 1870s, when several young men were lost in a thresher accident near what is now the intersection of Main Street and Route 22A. This tragedy was keenly remembered by the community, which banned industrial farming later that year in a special town meeting. Industrialized farm equipment was only allowed back into Orwell after the economic collapse of the early 1900s, and even then, special restrictions were placed to limit the capabilities of such farm instruments. The town's law against the use of "Modern Farm Machinery of All Kinds" was never actually repealed, and continues to be a curio law on the books that the town refuses to repeal.

Orwell attempted in the late 1990s to obtain a franchised fast-food restaurant, as a vital link in the food availability between Whitehall, New York, and Vergennes, Vermont, but the residents of the surrounding townships blocked the move, claiming it would upset the rural beauty of the western Vermont countryside. Orwell is known as the Fortress of America. The town motto is "First in Revolution, First in Recreation".

Notable people

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  • Louis Winslow Austin, physicist
  • Tully Blanchard, professional wrestler
  • Henry C. Bottum, member, Wisconsin State Assembly
  • Roswell Bottum, member, Vermont House of Representatives
  • Sarah E. Buxton, member, Vermont House of Representatives
  • John Catlin, acting governor of the Wisconsin Territory (1848–1849)
  • Nathaniel Colver, Baptist minister, abolitionist, educator
  • Marsena E. Cutts, politician
  • Henry Kent Hewitt, Admiral United States Navy, Commander US 8th Fleet, World Wars I and II
  • William P. Kellogg, US senator and 26th governor of Louisiana

References

  • Town of Orwell official website
  • Mount Independence State Historic Site