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Roxbury is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States, created by Vermont charter on August 6, 1781. The population was 678 at the 2020 census.

Geography and wildlife

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 41.8&nbsp;square miles (108.3&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), of which 41.8&nbsp;square miles (108.2&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) is land and 0.04&nbsp;square mile (0.1&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) (0.10%) is water.

Roxbury is the southernmost town of Washington County; it is bordered by Northfield (to the north), Warren (to the west), Granville (to the south and southwest), Braintree (to the southeast), and Brookfield (to the east). The town is located some southwest of Montpelier, the state capital. Roxbury is bisected by Vermont Route 12A, which runs through the town in a north-south direction.

Roxbury is heavily mountainous and forested, More than 85% of the land surface area of the town is forested, including of state land and more than of privately owned land that is enrolled in the state's Use Value Program.

More than twenty points within the town have an elevation of more than ; elevations in the town range from a low of (along the Third Branch of the White River) to a high of (at the peak of Rice Mountain). The town was chartered on August 6, 1781, to Benjamin Edwards and 64 other people, although just 20 of these ever lived in the town. Actual European settlement began in 1789, and the first town meeting was held in 1797.

The town grew steadily in the first six decades of the 19th century, growing from 113 residents in 1800 to a peak of 1,060 residents in 1860, on the eve of the American Civil War. In the war, 94 Roxbury men served; 29 perished. The town's population dropped in the 20th century after World War II, especially after the town's marble quarries (which opened in 1857) were closed in

1957; the city's population reached a low point in 1970, with just 354 residents. Subsequently, however, the town has made a rebound, with the population rising to 691 in 2010.

Economy

Historically, Roxbury's economy was highly dependent upon resource extraction; major economic activities included agriculture, logging, fishing, and quarrying. Verde Antique marble quarrying and talc mining were historically significant in Roxbury; today, one commercial sand and gravel extraction operation is located in the town. From the 1970s onward, many Roxbury residents have commuted to Montpelier and Barre for work.

Government, law enforcement, and fire protection

Town voters elect three members of the select board. The members of the select board have three-year terms and are responsible for carrying out a variety of duties, including "warning" (posting notice of) town meetings; enacting and enforcing town ordinances; proposing a town budget; overseeing town employees; authorizing expenditures; and appointing seven members of the town Planning

Commission. The select board members, together with the local justices of the peace, make up the Board of Civil Authority. The select board is assisted in the administration of town affairs by a town clerk, an assistant town clerk, and a town treasurer; the latter two officials are part-time. was built in 1891.&mdash;until it suffered catastrophic damage from Hurricane Irene in August 2011. The state is rebuilding the hatchery.

  • Camp Windridge at Teela Wooket is a privately owned tennis, soccer, and horseback riding camp. The camp was originally established by Claude and Florence Roys in 1913 and initially operated as "an exclusive girls' camp"; the camp was sold in 1989.
  • The Roxbury Free Library, which has about 5,000 volumes.

Demographics

As of the census

  • Ed Pincus, documentary filmmaker, had a home in Roxbury and died there
  • Francis V. Randall, Union Army officer in the American Civil War
  • Zed S. Stanton, Vermont lieutenant governor and judge, was a lifelong Roxbury resident