Guildhall, Vermont, USA
1849 - Guildhall

Essex Co. Guildhall is the county town, and is situated on the west side of Connecticut River, and is united to Lancaster, N. H., by two bridges across the river. The town is watered by several small streams, and the surface is quite uneven and stony, except a tract of intervale on the river. Cow and Burnside Mountains are considerable elevations, and afford excellent views of the meanderings of the Connecticut.

There is a pleasant village in the north-east part of the town, where the county buildings are situated.

Boundaries. North by Maidstone, east by Connecticut River, south by Lunenburgh, and west by Granby, and lies opposite to Lancaster, N. H.

First Settlers. The settlement was commenced in the lower part of this town, which was then thought to be a part of Lunenburgh, in 1764, by David Page, Timothy Nash, and George Wheeler. In 1775, Enoch Hall, Micah Amy and James Rosbrook joined the settlement ; Eleazar Rosbrook and Samuel Page, in 1778, and David Hopkinson,and Reuben and Simeon Howe, in 1779. The first settlers suffered severe privations and hardships for a number of years. They brought their grain and provisions, in canoes, from Northfield in Massachusetts, a distance of more than 150 miles. During the revolutionary war, they were in continual alarm, and frequently annoyed by the Indians and tories, who killed their cattle, plundered their houses, and carried a number of the inhabitants into captivity.

First Minister. A Congregational Church was formed in 1799, and settled the Rev. Caleb Burge in 1808; dismissed in 1814.

Productions of the Soil. Wheat, 957 bushels ; Indian corn, 905 bushels ; potatoes, 25,025 bushels; hay, 1,415 tons; maple sugar, 11,800 pounds; wool, 2,081 pounds.

Distances. Sixty-eight miles northeast from Montpelier. The Connecticut River Railroad will doubtless be extended through this place on the route to Canada.

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

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