Wheelock is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 759 at the 2020 census.

History

thumb|left|Wheelock Town Hall

The town was named after Eleazar Wheelock, the founder of Dartmouth College. Through a provision of the college dating to , any full-time resident of Wheelock who is accepted as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College may attend the school entirely free of tuition. Between the 1890s and 2025, ten Wheelock Scholars attended Dartmouth College.

Standing in the center of the village for many years was the old brick hotel, known as the Caledonia Spring House. In 1893, Myron D. Park, who served four years as a Wheelock selectman, sold the Caledonia Spring House to Marshall Way. The hotel was the site of a notorious murder on May 20, 1896, when owner Marshall Way killed his 44-year-old wife, Ellen Sheldon Way, in the dooryard. According to the St. Johnsbury Caledonian of May 22, 1896, "The little town of Wheelock was thrown into a state of wild excitement last Wednesday evening when the cry went around that Marshall Way had killed his wife. It was a terrible shock to the people of the quiet town, and it may be many days before they recover sufficiently to converse to any length upon another subject."

After the murder, the Caledonia Spring House was sold to Alden J. Rennie, owner of several mills in Sutton, Sheffield, and Wheelock. The building was dismantled during the 1990s after falling into disrepair. It was moved to Peacham where it is being restored on private property.

Eleazar Wheelock's grandson founded Wheelock, Texas in the early 1800s and named it after the original town in Vermont.

Geography

Wheelock is located in northwestern Caledonia County and is bordered by the town of Sheffield to the north, Sutton to the northeast, Lyndon to the east, Danville to the south, Stannard to the southwest, and Greensboro to the west. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.80%, is water.

The highest point in town is Wheelock Mountain, with an elevation of .

Demographics

As of the census

  • Josiah Willard (1805–1868), author and father of Frances Willard

References

  • Official website