Vernon is a town in Windham County, Vermont, in the United States. The population was 2,192 at the 2020 census. Vernon is the site of the now-defunct Vermont Yankee, the state of Vermont's only nuclear power plant, which closed in December 2014.

History

The town was chartered in 1672 as part of the Massachusetts Grant. In 1736 the area was granted by Massachusetts as part of Fall Town, and in 1753 the area was granted as Hinsdale. When the Connecticut River was established as a boundary, two separate towns were created: Hinsdale, New Hampshire and Hinsdale, Vermont. The people who lived in Hinsdale, Vermont wanted a separate name, and in 1802 the Vermont legislature changed the town's name to Vernon. The name is said to have been chosen after President George Washington's plantation home, Mount Vernon.

Fort Bridgman, in Vernon, was burned in 1755, a casualty of the French and Indian War.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (3.15%) is water. Vernon lies on the southern and eastern Vermont borders, north of Franklin County, Massachusetts, and west of Cheshire County, New Hampshire. The town is bordered by Brattleboro to the north, Guilford to the west, Hinsdale, New Hampshire, to the east, and the towns of Bernardston, Massachusetts, and Northfield, Massachusetts to the south. The town hall lies south of downtown Brattleboro, north-northeast of Greenfield, southwest of Keene, and west-northwest of Boston.

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Vernon has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Demographics

As of the census There is one public middle school, the Brattleboro Area Middle School (BAMS), and one public high school, the Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS). There is also a career development center, the Windham Regional Career Center.

Notable people

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  • Karen Carroll, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
  • George Howe, State's Attorney of Windham County, member of the Vermont Senate
  • Jonathan Hunt, US congressman

Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant

The town is the site of the now-closed Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, which shut down on December 29, 2014.

References

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