Pittsford, Vermont, USA (Florence)
1849 Pittsford

Rutland Co. Otter Creek, which flows through the middle of Pittsford, from south to north, with a gentle meandering current is the principal
stream, and its width here is from forty to fifty yards. Furnace Brook, a considerable tributary of Otter Creek, is formed by the union of East Creek and Philadelphia River. Along these streams are extensive meadows of the rich alluvial soil. On Furnace Brook and its branches are numerous mill privileges, which are well improved.

There are two ponds in the town: one in the south-eastern part, covering about twenty acres ; and the other in the north-eastern, covering about thirty acres. There are no mountains.

The soil is generally loam, with some tracts which are sandy, and some of clay. The timber is oak, of several kinds.

Pittsford abounds in iron ore, which makes the best of ware and bar iron, and has inexhaustible quarries of excellent marble. The iron ore yields about twenty-five per cent, of metallic iron. The marble is coarse grained, and somewhat flexible. Much of it is conveyed down Otter Creek to Middlebury, to be sawn and manufactured into jambs, &c. The oxyde of manganese is also found in this town.

In the eastern part of Pittsford is a deep cavern in which ice may commonly be found in the months of July and August.

There are two pleasant and flourishing villages in the town ; one near the centre, the other on Furnace Brook. These villages will be greatly benefitted by the railroad from Rutland, which passes near them.

A female child was born here in 1784, who died at the age of nine years, and weighed 200 pounds.

Boundaries. North by Brandon, east by Chittenden, south by Rutland, and west by Hubbardton and a small part of Ira.

First Settlers. The settlement of the town was commenced in the year 1769, by Messrs. Gideon and Benjamin Cooley from Greenwich, Mass; they were soon joined by Roger Stevens, Felix Powell, Ebenezer Hopkins, Stephen Mead, Moses Olmsted, Edward Owen, Joshua Woodward, and others, from Massachusetts and Connecticut.

First Minister. Elder Elisha Rich was ordained over the Baptist Church in 1784.

Productions of the Soil. Wheat, 1 ,837 bushels; Indian corn, 13,425 bushels ; potatoes, 30,661 bushels; hay, 7,162 tons ; maple sugar, 20,539 pounds ; wool, 54,1 28 pounds.

Distances. Forty-four miles southwest from Montpelier, and eight north from Rutland.

The great Southern Railroad between Boston and Burlington passes through Pittsford.

A gazetteer of Vermont... by John Hayward Boston - Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason 1849

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