Westmore is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 306 at the 2000 census, making it the least populated town in the county. The town contains one unincorporated village clustered around Lake Willoughby.

Government

Town

• Chairman of the Selectmen - Nancy Mallary
• Selectman - John Alexander
• Selectman - David Stevens
• Treasurer and Town Clerk - Greg Gallagher
• Delinquent Tax Collector - Robert Decker
• Agent - Greg Gallagher
• Auditor - Mellisa Zebrowski
• Auditor - Millie Davis
• Grand Juror - Michael Branon
• Cemetery Commissioner - Steve Richards

School District

High schools students are sent to Lake Region Union High School. The town pays an assessment for this and elects a board member to the Orleans Central Supervisory Union.

History

Originally named Westford, the town was chartered on August 17, 1781. Since Chittenden County had a town named Westford, after six years the name was changed to Westmore.

The first vacation house was built on the Lake in 1860. It is known as the "Cheney House, after an owner in the late 19th century.

Westmore never attracted many settlers. The town's peak population was in the census year of 1880 with 485 people.

Songadeewin Camp for girls was located here in the 1920s-1940s.

In 1970, the state of Vermont acquired as part of Willoughby State Forest which included the Cheney House.

Nudity is everywhere legal in Vermont. In 2007-8, the town discussed whether to ban nudity aimed at sunbathers on the south beach of Lake Willoughby.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 37.5 square miles (97.0 km²), of which, 34.5 square miles (89.4 km²) of it is land and 2.9 square miles (7.6 km²) of it (7.85%) is water.

One of the town's most prominent feature is Lake Willoughby. The lake has a maximum depth of 312 feet making it the deepest lake totally contained within Vermont, and one of the deepest lakes in all of New England. The relatively young 12,000-year-old glacier-carved lake is flanked on the east by Mount Pisgah and the west by Mount Hor . The mountains, which have hundreds of feet of rock cliffs, are located in the Willougby State Forest and the cliffs have been designated a National Natural Landmark. In recent decades, several Peregrine Falcons have been found there.

Local mountains also include Goodwin , Bald , Hedgehog , Haystack , and Bartlet .

The town has a local weather recording and reporting station.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 306 people, 133 households, and 90 families residing in the town. The population density was 8.9 people per square mile (3.4/km²). There were 530 housing units at an average density of 15.4/sq mi (5.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.39% White, 1.63% Native American, 0.65% Asian, and 0.33% from two or more races.

There were 133 households out of which 20.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.74.

In the town the population was spread out with 16.7% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 36.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $27,375, and the median income for a family was $38,333. Males had a median income of $26,875 versus $18,958 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,522. About 7.8% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under the age of eighteen and 3.8% of those sixty five or over.

Footnotes

External links