Bolton, Vermont

Bolton is located in eastern Chittenden County, bordered to the east by Washington County. The main crest of the Green Mountains runs north to south through the eastern part of the town, and the Winooski River, running east to west, cuts through the mountains south of the center of the town. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 42.5 square miles (110.2 km²), of which 42.2 square miles (109.4 km²) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km²), or 0.65%, is water.[3]

The town is predominantly rural. There are four principal settlements:

• Bolton proper is in the Winooski River valley, on the north side of the river.
• West Bolton is in the northwest corner of the town, and is accessed primarily from the adjacent town of Jericho.
• A thin strip of land, known as "the back side of the river", is located south of the Winooski River. The only road access is through the neighboring towns of Richmond and Duxbury.
• A small number of year-round residents live near the Bolton Valley ski area in the northeast part of the town.

The Long Trail passes through Bolton on its way from Camel's Hump to Mount Mansfield.

Bolton has its own elementary school (Pre K to 4th grade). The Ellen P. Smilie Memorial School's benefactor was Ellen Pinneo, born in 1849 in Pinneo Flats in Bolton. She attended the Pinneo Flats School, which was later destroyed by the flood of 1927. Ellen married Melville Smilie and moved to Montpelier where she lived for many years until her death on December 17, 1933. After the flood of 1927 washed away her old schoolhouse, she donated $1000 toward the rebuilding of another school on Pinneo Flats. In her will, she bequeathed a sum of money to the Memorial School. When I-89 was constructed through Bolton and cut off access to the Memorial School, it was demolished and in 1960 part of the present school was erected. In September 1999, a large addition was completed adding five new classrooms and a large gym to the existing building. A final gift was made that made it possible to enlarge the library facility and increase the number of books. The school is exceptional with a strong partnership with Smilie families and Townspeople.

On November 4, 2014, the communities of Bolton, Jericho, Richmond, Underhill ID and Underhill Town voted to form the Mount Mansfield Modified Union School District, also known as the MMMUSD. This new school district serves and governs the current town school districts of Bolton (Smilie Memorial School), Jericho (Jericho Elementary), Richmond (Richmond Elementary), Underhill ID School District (Underhill ID Elementary), Underhill Town (Underhill Central School), Mt Mansfield Union School District (Browns River Middle, Camels Hump Middle and Mt. Mansfield Union High Schools) in grades Pre-K through 12 and Huntington students grades 5-12.[4]

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 971 people, 368 households, and 260 families residing in the town. The population density was 22.9 people per square mile (8.8/km²). There were 412 housing units at an average density of 9.7 per square mile (3.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.15% White, 0.10% African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.21% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.31% of the population.

There were 368 households, of which 40.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.9% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.3% were non-families. 19.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.09.

The median income for a household in the town was $49,625, and the median income for a family was $55,486. Men had a median income of $39,375 versus $28,958 for women. The per capita income for the town was $24,256. About 3.6% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 1.7% of those age 65 or over.

• Alison Bechdel, cartoonist

• Town of Bolton official website