Randolph is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,774 at the 2020 census, making Randolph the largest town in Orange County. The town is a commercial center for many of the smaller, rural farming communities that surround it.

When the area was originally settled there were three villages—Randolph Center, East Randolph and West Randolph—the current locations of the three fire departments. What is now Randolph, the primary village of the town, had previously been the village of West Randolph.

History

thumb|Print of West Randolph from 1886 by [[L.R. Burleigh with listing of landmarks]]

Vermont granted the town on November 2, 1780, when the New Hampshire settlers could not locate the original grantees, whose patents were issued by New York. It was chartered on June 29, 1781, to Aaron Storrs and 70 others, and was originally named "Middlesex".

The town was first settled , when Vermont was an unrecognized state whose government existed in defiance of the government of New York, which claimed Vermont was a part of New York. To encourage recognition of the state by the United States, the town was renamed in honor of Edmund Randolph, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Two branches of the White River provided water power for watermills. By 1859, the town had three gristmills, one oil mill, and one carding mill. In 1848, the Vermont Central Railroad opened service through the town. Randolph's prosperity during the Victorian era endowed it with some fine architecture, including the Second Empire Randolph Railroad Depot and Renaissance Revival Kimball Public Library.

In 1921, Randolph was the setting for, and provided some of the cast of, a silent movie called The Offenders. In 1922, the same was true for the film Insinuation.

Today, Randolph is a thriving meeting-spot and shopping center for the surrounding area. The town is home to attractions such as the Porter Music Box Museum and the Chandler Music Hall. Also located in Randolph are the Gifford Medical Center, a hospital; Dubois & King, a civil and structural engineering firm; and Randolph Union High School, which also serves students from the neighboring towns of Braintree and Brookfield. Downtown Randolph hosts the Amtrak station, shops, restaurants, Playhouse Movie Theatre, and several gas stations.

<gallery class="center" widths="160px">

Image:Union Block, Randolph, VT.jpg|Union Block in 1912

Image:Kimball Public Library, Randolph, VT.jpg|Kimball Library

Image:Corner Main & Pleasant Sts., Randolph, VT.jpg|North Main Street in 1913

</gallery>thumb|Randolph Coal & Ice Company

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 47.9&nbsp;square miles (124.1&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), of which 47.9&nbsp;square miles (124.0&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) is land and 0.04&nbsp;square mile (0.1&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) (0.08%) is water. Randolph is drained by the second and third branches of the White River.

Demographics

As of the census

Transportation

Roads and highways

Randolph is served by five state-maintained routes. Interstate 89 passes through Randolph and has one exit near the center of town. Paralleling the Interstate are Vermont Route 12, which passes through downtown Randolph and the western half of town, and Vermont Route 14, which passes through the eastern half of town. East-west Vermont Route 66, which is located entirely within Randolph, connects all three of those north-south routes. Vermont Route 12A splits from Vermont Route 12 just north of downtown Randolph and heads to the northwest to enter Braintree.

Public transportation

thumb|right|Randolph Railroad Depot

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides daily service to Randolph, operating its Vermonter between Washington, D.C. and St. Albans, Vermont. Tri-Valley Transit provides local bus transportation across town, Orange County and to and from the White River Junction and Lebanon, New Hampshire areas.

Media

Weekly newspaper

The White River Valley Herald

Radio

  • WWFY – 100.9 FM (Froggy 100.9 FM – Today's BIG Country)
  • WRFK – 107.1 FM (107.1 Frank FM – Classic Rock)
  • WCVR – 1320 AM (Real Country 1320 – country)
  • WVXR – 102.1 FM (VPR Classical)
  • WVTC – 90.7 FM (Vermont Tech Radio – various music)

Sites of interest

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File:RHS Museum.jpg|Randolph Historical Society Museum

File:Randolph, Vermont - 6142639320.jpg|Playhouse movie theater

File:Randolph, Vermont - 6142085207.jpg|Depot building

File:Gifford Medical Center.jpg|Gifford Medial Center

File:Kimball Library - Randolph Vermont.JPG|Kimball Public Library

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Notable people

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  • George W. Barker, U.S. Marshal for Vermont, Judge of Maniwitoc County, Wisconsin
  • Jedediah Berry, author
  • Dudley Blodget, Wisconsin politician
  • Calvin H. Blodgett, mayor of Burlington, Vermont
  • Albert Brown Chandler, president of the Postal Telegraph Company
  • Dudley Chase, United States Senator
  • Harry H. Cooley, Secretary of State of Vermont
  • William H. Dubois, Vermont State Treasurer
  • Calvin Edson, soldier and sideshow performer
  • Joseph Edson, U.S. Marshal for Vermont
  • Lebbeus Egerton, Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
  • Martin Flint, Anti-Masonic Party leader who served as Adjutant General of the Vermont Militia
  • Henrik Galeen, actor, director
  • Phil Godenschwager, artist
  • William Hebard, US congressman
  • Carroll Ketchum, Vermont state legislator
  • Emily Levan, distance runner
  • Zosia Mamet, singer, actress
  • Jean Merrill, writer and editor
  • Fraser Metzger, clergyman, politician, and college administrator, resided in Randolph
  • Colonel Jonathan Miller, Freedom fighter, abolitionist and women's rights
  • Justin Morgan, horse breeder and composer
  • Sherman R. Moulton, Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
  • Buster Olney, columnist for ESPN The Magazine
  • John K. Parish, Wisconsin state legislator and jurist
  • Jack Rowell (photographer), photographer
  • John W. Rowell, Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
  • John C. Sherburne, Vermont's first Rhodes Scholar and Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
  • Milan H. Sessions, politician
  • Ronni Solbert, children’s book illustrator
  • Luther Tucker Sparhawk, photographer
  • Larry Townsend, Vermont legislator
  • Levi Baker Vilas, Vermont and Wisconsin politician
  • Stephen W. Webster, Vermont state legislator who served as President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate
  • Jessamyn West, librarian

International relations

Randolph is twinned with:

  • Myrhorod

See also

  • List of municipalities in Vermont

References

  • Kimball Public Library
  • White River Valley Herald – local newspaper
  • Randolph Historical Society – local history museum