Cabot, Vermont | |
|---|---|
 Cabot Town Hall | |
 Location in Washington County and the state of Vermont | |
  Cabot Location in Vermont#Location in The United States  Cabot Cabot (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 44°23′56″N 72°18′5″W / 44.39889°N 72.30139°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State |  Vermont |
| County | Washington |
| Communities |
|
| Area | |
• Total | 38.5 sq mi (99.8 km2) |
| • Land | 37.3 sq mi (96.6 km2) |
| • Water | 1.2 sq mi (3.2 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,332 ft (406 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 1,443 |
| • Density | 37/sq mi (14/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 05647 |
| Area code | 802 |
| FIPS code | 50-11125[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1462061[2] |
| Website | www |
Cabot is a six-mile-square New England town located in the northeast corner of Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,443 at the 2020 census. It contains the unincorporated villages of Cabot Village, Cabot Plain, South Cabot (Hookerville), East Cabot, Lower Cabot, and West Hill. There was also a community known as Petersville until property owners there sold a total of 100 acres to Molly’s Falls Electric Light and Power Company, and in 1925 a large dam was constructed on Molly’s Brook (named after Molly, the wife of Indian Joe[3]), that completely flooded the area that had been farms and homes to create what is now known as Molly’s Falls Reservoir, or sometimes “Marshfield Dam,” which is located close to the Cabot/Marshfield town line.
The most notable of Cabot’s several ponds are: Coit’s Pond, the origin of the Winooski River; Molly’s Pond that sits on the Continental Divide and has outlets flowing east towards the Connecticut River and west into the Winooski River and Lake Champlain; West Hill Pond, originally called the “great field” by early settlers as it was the only cleared area for miles in the wilderness before a dam on the brook created a shallow pond; and the three-mile-long, 396 acre Joe’s Pond (named for Indian Joe[4]) situated in Cabot, Walden and Danville. Molly’s Pond State Park has over 1,000 acres and includes the 411-acre reservoir created by a dam built in 1926-27 that flooded the small farming community of Petersville. This reservoir, which is entirely within the town of Cabot, provides power to operate Marshfield No. 6 hydroelectric plant located just over the town line between Cabot and Marshfield on Rte. 215S.
Cabot is the location of the Cabot Creamery, founded in 1893 primarily as a butter factory to add value to milk production. Today the creamery is a producer and national distributor of dairy products, especially known for their cheddar cheese. Cabot Creamery is by far Cabot’s largest employer with a manufacturing and packaging plant at the original site and extensions of the business in nearby locations as well as New York state and Massachusetts. Organized as a cooperative in 1919 by 94 members with a total of 863 cows,[5] the creamery has struggled and re-invented itself several times as economic and population changes have occurred. There were 77 farms sending milk to the Cabot Creamery Cooperative in 1952, eight of which were within the village limits.[6] Today there are no farms within the village limits and only six dairy farms within the entire town. The creamery draws from other towns for the massive amount of product needed to sustain the ever-growing demand for Cabot cheese.
Former Cabot dairy farms are now large fruit orchards, maple operations, vegetable farms, or are growing herbs or producing hay, raising beef, sheep, turkeys, or goats. Crafters, wood carvers, arborists, gardeners/landscapers, musicians, authors and other professionals or retirees make their home in the historic scenic landscape of rural Cabot.
The village of Cabot nestles on the banks of the Winooski River. It is now the only community within the township with active commerce. The post office, church with a day-care center, library, and town offices are situated there, along with a volunteer fire department and ambulance service. Main Street businesses include a grocery store and deli; computer sales, service, and drone business; an automotive garage; a bar serving craft beer and cider located in a hardware store; and a restaurant and pub. There is also an 8-unit senior housing complex, Cabot Commons, opened in 2005, within easy access of downtown businesses and the town offices and library located in the Willey Memorial Building. The former Masonic Lodge Hall is now home to “Neighbors in Action,” an active community service organization.
Cabot is fortunate to have an art barn gallery that is open for exhibits in the summer, and the Cabot Historical Society, also open from about May to October. The historical society houses an impressive collection of artifacts, along with a library of genealogy and reference materials. The two-story former school and community hall that was built in 1849 has been uniquely preserved to display the town’s historical artifacts. The society also owns and maintains a restored one-room schoolhouse located on West Hill.
Throughout the year, the village common hosts a variety of concerts, field days, farmers’ markets, and craft events. There is a community skating rink on the common in the winter, and hiking and snowmobile trails run through the town. There is also a well-maintained town forest.
Cabot holds annual town meetings and its business is managed by a five-member selectboard that meets regularly, at least twice each month.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ Fisher, John M., Vermont Historical Gazetteer, 1867-1891, Vol. 1-5, Abby Maria Hemenway, Burlington, Vermont.
- ^ Brown, E. Jane (September 1994). "Welcome to Joe's Pond Vermont". Originally published in The Caledonian Record. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ Carpenter, Barbara, Cabot, Vermont a Collection of Memories from the Century Past, Cabot Oral History Committee, L. Brown & Sons Printing, Barre, Vt., 1999.
- ^ Brown, Jane, for the June and July 2022 editions of the Cabot Chronicle.