Westford, Vermont, USA
1886 - Westford

WESTFORD, lying in the northern tier of towns in CHITTENDEN county, is bounded north by Fairfax, in Franklin county, east by UNDERHILL, south by Essex, and west by Milton. In surface the town is irregular and mountainous, resting upon a portion of the western slope of the Green Mountains, and fortunately possesses all the beauties which attract the sight-seer and the lover of nature, without lacking the qualities of soil and surface which tickle the utilitarian tastes of the farmer; there is little waste land in Westford. From many of the more elevated portions of the town may be obtained glimpses of Lake Champlain, the blue arena encompassed by a mighty amphitheatre of mountains, while away to the east rises the majestic and noiseless Mansfield, more than four thousand feet above sea level. The farms in Westford are usually well cultivated -- a fact which needs no proof beyond the statement that few towns, if any, in Vermont have so evenly-distributed wealth. There are few paupers, few people who are not able to provide for themselves and those who are under their care, and not many who may be termed wealthy. Most would be deemed well to do. The soil is various in composition. Through the center of the town clay preponderates, in the east and west a rich gravelly loam prevails, while to the north the soil is light and sandy. The town is well irrigated by springs and streams, Brown's River, the principal water-course, having a general northerly direction through the central part of the territory. Beaver Brook, fed by several small tributaries, flows north through the northwestern part of the town. To the southwest lies a small body of water, naturally called Westford Pond, covering about ten acres. The land was originally covered with a dense growth of forest trees, hemlock, beech and maple being found in greatest abundance, though spruce, birch, elm and ash were not wanting. Pine was also plentiful, its forests covering the whole of the sandy plains in the northern part of the town.

The township was chartered by King George III, through his faithful and energetic representative, Governor Benning WENTWORTH, of New Hampshire, on the 8th of June, 1763. As in most of the towns in Northern Vermont, the grantees are not known to have ever visited their property, but to have subjected it to immediate sale in accordance with their views of legitimate speculation...

History of Chittenden County, Vermont With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers
Edited By W. S. Rann, Syracuse, N. Y. D. Mason & Co., Publishers, 1886

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