Historical U.S. Census totals for Washington County, Vermont

This article shows U.S. Census totals for Washington County, Vermont, broken down by municipality, from 1900 to 2000.

Like most areas of New England, Washington County is (and has been at all times since well before the 20th century) entirely divided into incorporated municipalities. There is no unincorporated territory.

There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont: towns, cities and villages. As in the other New England states, towns are the basic unit of municipal government. Cities are independent of and equivalent to towns, but differ in their form of government. Villages overlay towns and assume responsibility for some municipal services within their boundaries. Incorporated villages are not found in any of the other New England states, and are less common in Vermont today than they have been in the past. A number of villages have disincorporated over the years, choosing to revert to full town control; most of those that remain are very small.

It is possible for a village to become a city, in which case it becomes a completely separate municipality from its original parent town. Many of Vermont’s current cities are former villages (unlike the other New England states where cities are almost invariably former towns). If a village bearing the same name as its parent town becomes a city, the result is an adjacent town and city that have the same name but are completely separate municipalities. There is one such example in Washington County. The present-day city of Barre was originally an incorporated village within the town of Barre. When the village became a city, however, it ceased to be part of the town, and the town and city are now two distinct municipalities with no overlap or relationship to one another.

The main tables below show municipalities at the town level, differentiating between towns and cities. For any census, adding up the totals for each town-level municipality should yield the county total. A separate section follows with population totals for villages from 1930 to 2000.

For more information on the New England municipal system, see New England town.

Corporate changes since 1900

There have been no changes in Washington County’s town-level municipality roster since 1900.

1900

County Total: 36,607

Barre (city) 8,448
Montpelier (city) 6,266
Barre [town] 3,346
Northfield 2,855
Waterbury 2,810
Cabot 1,126
Calais 1,101
East Montpelier 1,061
Marshfield 1,032
Berlin 1,021
Moretown 902
Middlesex 883
Woodbury 862
Warren 826
Duxbury 778
Waitsfield 760
Plainfield 716
Roxbury 712
Worcester 636
Fayston 466

1910

County Total: 41,702

Barre (city) 10,734

Montpelier (city) 7,856
Barre [town] 4,194
Waterbury 3,273
Northfield 3,226
Cabot 1,116
Berlin 1,079
Calais 1,042
Marshfield 1,011
East Montpelier 985
Moretown 886
Middlesex 858
Warren 825
Woodbury 824
Plainfield 785
Waitsfield 709
Duxbury 648
Roxbury 615
Worcester 584
Fayston 452

1920

County Total: 38,921

Barre (city) 10,008
Montpelier (city) 7,125
Barre [town] 3,862
Waterbury 3,542
Northfield 3,096
Cabot 1,036
Berlin 959
Moretown 930
East Montpelier 918
Marshfield 898
Calais 865
Plainfield 781
Middlesex 762
Woodbury 686
Waitsfield 682
Warren 654
Duxbury 631
Roxbury 609
Worcester 453
Fayston 424

1930

County Total: 41,733

Barre (city) 11,307
Montpelier (city) 7,837
Barre [town] 4,280
Waterbury 4,045
Northfield 3,438
Cabot 1,107
Berlin 992
East Montpelier 965
Moretown 888
Marshfield 872
Calais 811
Plainfield 766
Middlesex 751
Waitsfield 723
Roxbury 594
Duxbury 553
Woodbury 529
Warren 486
Worcester 471
Fayston 318

1940

County Total: 41,546

Barre (city) 10,909
Montpelier (city) 8,006
Waterbury 4,118
Barre [town] 4,052
Northfield 3,601
Berlin 1,111
East Montpelier 1,025
Moretown 975
Cabot 974
Marshfield 901
Plainfield 832
Calais 818
Middlesex 817
Waitsfield 706
Duxbury 554
Roxbury 554
Woodbury 463
Warren 450
Worcester 396
Fayston 284

1950

County Total: 42,870

Barre (city) 10,922
Montpelier (city) 8,599
Northfield 4,314
Waterbury 4,276
Barre [town] 4,145
Berlin 1,158
East Montpelier 1,128
Plainfield 945
Middlesex 887
Moretown 883
Marshfield 830
Cabot 826
Calais 778
Waitsfield 661
Warren 498
Duxbury 489
Roxbury 465
Woodbury 449
Worcester 445
Fayston 172

1960

County Total: 42,860

Barre (city) 10,387
Montpelier (city) 8,782
Barre [town] 4,580
Northfield 4,511
Waterbury 4,303
Berlin 1,306
East Montpelier 1,200
Plainfield 966
Marshfield 891
Moretown 788
Middlesex 770
Cabot 763
Calais 684
Waitsfield 658
Duxbury 546
Warren 469
Worcester 417
Roxbury 364
Woodbury 317
Fayston 158

1970

County Total: 47,659

Barre (city) 10,209
Montpelier (city) 8,609
Barre [town] 6,509
Northfield 4,870
Waterbury 4,614
Berlin 2,050
East Montpelier 1,597
Plainfield 1,399
Marshfield 1,033
Moretown 904
Middlesex 857
Waitsfield 837
Cabot 663
Calais 749
Duxbury 621
Warren 588
Worcester 505
Woodbury 399
Roxbury 354
Fayston 292

1980

County Total: 52,393

Barre (city) 9,824
Montpelier (city) 8,241
Barre [town] 7,090
Northfield 5,435
Waterbury 4,465
Berlin 2,454
East Montpelier 2,205
Waitsfield 1,300
Marshfield 1,267
Plainfield 1,249
Middlesex 1,235
Moretown 1,221
Calais 1,207
Cabot 958
Warren 956
Duxbury 877
Worcester 727
Fayston 657
Woodbury 573
Roxbury 452

1990

County Total: 54,928

Barre (city) 9,482
Montpelier (city) 8,247
Barre [town] 7,411
Northfield 5,610
Waterbury 4,589
Berlin 2,561
East Montpelier 2,239
Calais 1,521
Middlesex 1,514
Waitsfield 1,422
Moretown 1,415
Marshfield 1,331
Plainfield 1,302
Warren 1,172
Cabot 1,043
Duxbury 976
Worcester 906
Fayston 846
Woodbury 766
Roxbury 575

2000

County Total: 58,039

Barre (city) 9,291
Montpelier (city) 8,035
Barre [town] 7,602
Northfield 5,791
Waterbury 4,915
Berlin 2,864
East Montpelier 2,578
Middlesex 1,729
Warren 1,681
Waitsfield 1,659
Moretown 1,653
Calais 1,529
Marshfield 1,496
Duxbury 1,289
Plainfield 1,286
Cabot 1,213
Fayston 1,141
Worcester 902
Woodbury 809
Roxbury 576

Villages

This section lists census totals for incorporated villages for 1930 through 2000.

As of 1930, Washington County contained five incorporated villages:

The village of Cabot (inc. 1866), within the town of the same name
The village of Marshfield (inc. 1911), within the town of the same name
The village of Northfield (inc. 1855), within the town of the same name
The village of Plainfield, primarily within the town of the same name, but also extending into the town of Marshfield
The village of Waterbury (inc. 1882), within the town of the same name

The village of Plainfield disincorporated in 1985.

1930

Waterbury 2,858
Northfield 2,075
Plainfield 447 (422 in the town of Plainfield, 25 in the town of Marshfield)
Cabot 232
Marshfield 207

1940

Waterbury 3,074
Northfield 2,129
Plainfield 521 (477 in the town of Plainfield, 44 in the town of Marshfield)
Marshfield 292
Cabot 265

1950

Waterbury 3,153
Northfield 2,262
Plainfield 604 (564 in the town of Plainfield, 40 in the town of Marshfield)
Marshfield 274
Cabot 219

1960

Waterbury 2,984
Northfield 2,159
Plainfield 507 (459 in the town of Plainfield, 48 in the town of Marshfield)
Marshfield 313
Cabot 244

1970

Waterbury 2,840
Northfield 2,139
Plainfield 491 (445 in the town of Plainfield, 46 in the town of Marshfield)
Marshfield 322
Cabot 253

1980

Northfield 2,033
Waterbury 1,892
Plainfield 599 (461 in the town of Plainfield, 138 in the town of Marshfield)
Marshfield 301
Cabot 259

1990

Northfield 1,889
Waterbury 1,702
Marshfield 257
Cabot 220

2000

Northfield 3,208
Waterbury 1,706
Marshfield 262
Cabot 239

Notes

1930 Census

The 1930 Census figure for the village of Waterbury was originally reported as 1,776. The 1940 Census reports contain the following note: ““Figures for 1930 and 1920 for Waterbury village have been corrected to include population (1,082 in 1930; 850 in 1920) of Vermont State Hospital for Insane, erroneously returned as in Waterbury town outside the village.” This had no effect of the overall figure for the town of Waterbury.

1970 Census

The Census Bureau made a number of revisions to 1970 census totals subsequent to their initial release. The 1970 total for the village of Plainfield was originally reported as 949 (903 in the town of Plainfield, 44 in the town of Marshfield). The total for the portion of the village in the town of Plainfield was later revised; the list above reflects the revised totals. This had no effect on the overall figure for the town of Plainfield.