Lyndon

History

When Rhode Island proprietors secured the original Lyndon township grant, the area was covered in forests and woodlands. The Passumpsic River, flowing through the center of the town, provided power for grist and saw mills. The charter of the town of Lyndon was signed by Governor Thomas Chittenden in 1780. It seems likely that the name Lyndon was chosen to honor Josias Lyndon (1704–1778), a former governor of Rhode Island and friend of many of the proprietors. Many of these men served with the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment, 1st Division, including Israel Angell. The original proprietors secured the grant as a business venture and had no intention of settling it. Some of the men held high positions of rank, including Jonathan Arnold, William Greene, and James Manning, the President of Rhode Island College, later Brown University. They needed men in search of free land, who would clear each proprietor's grant in return for a portion of it. The town was surveyed in 1781 by Jonathan Arnold, Daniel Cahoon and Daniel Owen. Settlement began in 1789. By the 1790 census, twelve families with 59 residents made their homes in Lyndon. These families installed roads, mills, homes, barns, fields, crops, churches, and schools. The village of Lyndon Corner was incorporated in 1792; Lyndon Center in 1794. Lyndonville was incorporated in 1866. The village of Lyndon Corner was about south of Lyndonville. The Hotel Lyndon was built there in 1807. It became a tavern and burned in 1897. About 1867, the Connecticut & Passumpsic Rivers Railroad bypassed Lyndon Corner and Lyndon Center. This resulted in business moving to Lyndonville. The bypassed villages became residential and are no longer distinguished by a separate name. They both gave up their incorporated village status in 1962.…

Geography

Lyndon is located in the valley of the Passumpsic River in northeastern Vermont. It is bordered by the town of St. Johnsbury to the south, Danville to the southwest, Wheelock to the west, Sutton to the north, Burke to the northeast, and Kirby to the east. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.89%, is water. The highest point in Lyndon is Diamond Hill in the southwest, with an elevation of slightly greater than . Lyndonville, the main village in town, is partially located on a high kame terrace. This may have once extended across the valley to form the end of a basin. Its lower strata are clayey, and are folded and curved. West of this terrace the level is lower. There is the course of a former river bed which ran towards the east. At the upper village of Lyndon the first terrace is about wide. There is a lot of sand and fine gravel adjoining. Every stream from either side of the valley has its large terraces to correspond with those of the Passumpsic River. It is a characteristic of these terraces that they are large while their quantity is small. The count never exceeds five which is unusual.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,472
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  3,070
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,384
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,273
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  1,976
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,915
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  1,522
• Red-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta canadensis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,366

Largest nearby schools

• St. Johnsbury School
  Elementary · Saint Johnsbury · 702 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• Lyndon Town School
  Elementary · Lyndonville · 501 students · 10.2:1 ratio
• Danville School
  Other · Danville · 350 students · 8.5:1 ratio
• Burke Town School
  Elementary · West Burke · 189 students · 11.1:1 ratio
• Waterford Elementary School
  Elementary · Waterford · 154 students · 11:1 ratio
• Millers Run School
  Elementary · Sheffield · 136 students · 10.5:1 ratio
• Sutton Village School
  Elementary · Sutton · 113 students · 12.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2024-06-18
  3 km SE of Haverhill, New Hampshire
• M 2.9 — 2023-04-25
  4 km SW of Center Sandwich, New Hampshire
• M 2.9 — 2022-02-04
  0 km SSW of Gorham, New Hampshire
• M 3.1 — 2020-05-06
  9 km SE of Bedford, Canada
• M 2.51 — 2011-07-08
  4 km NE of Newbury, Vermont
• M 2.5 — 2011-01-03
  6 km NNE of Holderness, New Hampshire