Shaftsbury is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,598 at the 2020 census.

History

The town was chartered on August 20, 1761. It was named after the Earl of Shaftesbury.

In June 1843, escaped slaves hid at a Shaftsbury farm, in the first recorded instance in Vermont of the Underground Railroad.

Geography

Shaftsbury is located in Bennington County along the western border of Vermont. To the north is the town of Arlington, to the east is the unincorporated town of Glastenbury, to the south is the town of Bennington, the county seat, and to the west are the towns of Hoosick and White Creek in New York.

Shaftsbury includes the communities of Shaftsbury Center and South Shaftsbury. Lake Shaftsbury State Park is located in the northern part of the town, around Lake Shaftsbury.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.21%, is water.

Most of the town drains southward to the Walloomsac River, while the northeastern corner, including Lake Shaftsbury, drains north to the Batten Kill. Both rivers are part of the Hudson River watershed.

Demographics

As of the census The Selectboard performs three functions:

  • Legislative – enacts local ordinances, regulations and policies.
  • Administrative – prepares and presents the budget, oversees all town expenditures, supervises personnel and controls town buildings and property.
  • Quasi-judicial – determines private rights in such areas as laying out, discontinuing and reclassifying highways and hearing appeals as the local board of health and as the local liquor control commission.

In Shaftsbury, the Selectboard also serves as the water board, overseeing the operations of the Shaftsbury Water Department; assuming duties of the former Shaftsbury Fire & Light District.

Parks and recreation

Lake Shaftsbury State Park is an park surrounding Lake Shaftsbury. It became a state park in 1974, and has group camping, a developed beach, play area, and picnic area.

Notable people

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  • Irving Adler, author, mathematician, scientist, and educator
  • Joyce Sparer Adler, literary critic, playwright, and teacher
  • George L. Buck, Wisconsin state senator and businessman
  • Robert Frost, American poet, writer of Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
  • Jonas Galusha, sixth governor of Vermont
  • Jacob M. Howard, US senator from Michigan
  • Norman Lear, television writer and producer
  • Andy Newell, US Nordic skier and Olympian
  • Gideon Olin, US congressman from Vermont
  • Henry Olin, US congressman from Vermont and sixth Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
  • Jane Stickle, quilter

References

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  • Town of Shaftsbury official website
  • City-Data.com