reference

Home

Shopping

Articles

Local

News

Rutland (city), Vermont

History

Merchants' Row in 1907

It began on Otter Creek in the early 1800s as a small hamlet called Mill Village in Rutland, the surrounding town named by Governor Benning Wentworth in 1761 after John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland. In the early 19th century, small high-quality marble deposits were discovered in Rutland, and in the 1830s a large deposit of nearly solid marble was found in what is now West Rutland. By the 1840s, small firms had begun excavations, but marble quarries proved profitable only after the railroad arrived in 1851. At the same time, the famous quarries of Carrara in Tuscany, Italy grew largely unworkable because of their extreme depth, allowing Rutland to become one of the world's leading marble producers.
This fueled enough growth and investment that in 1886 the center of town incorporated as Rutland village. Most of the town was split off as West Rutland and Proctor, which contained the bulk of the marble quarries. Rutland City was incorporated as Vermont's third city on November 18, 1892. The new city's first mayor was John A. Mead, who served only one term in 1893.

In 1894, the nation's first polio outbreak was identified in the Rutland area. 132 people from the Rutland area were affected. Seven died. 110 others suffered some paralysis for life. 55 were from the city itself.

The Berwick House in 1907

In 1903, a Rutland City ordinance restricting the carrying of firearms led to the Vermont Supreme Court's decision in State vs. Rosenthal, thereby establishing protection for the carrying of firearms without permit or license, what has become known as "Vermont Carry." Nonetheless, Rutland had a similar ordinance in place as late as 1998, at which point it was challenged and eventually removed, and there have been reports from residents of police harassment over openly carrying firearms as recently as June 2008.

The closing of the marble quarries in the area in the 1980s and 1990s cost the area jobs.

In the early 1970s, the Rutland Halloween Parade was used as the setting of a number of superhero comic books, including Batman #237, Justice League of America #103, Freedom Fighters #6, Amazing Adventures #16, Avengers #83, and The Mighty Thor #207.

Geography

Rutland is located at , elevation 164.6 m (540 ft).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.67 square miles (19.87 km²), of which, 7.6 square miles (19.8 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.52%) is water. Rutland is drained by Otter Creek, Moon Brook, Tenney Brook, East Creek and Mussey Brook.

Transportation

Rutland is the terminal city for Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express, which provides daily service to and from New York City.

Rutland has "The Bus," run by Marble Valley Regional Transit District, an inter-city bus system costing 50 cents per person, with other expenses covered largely by taxpayers. "The Bus" was free prior to 2007, when the 50 cents fare was added to control the added gas expenses. MVRTD is housed in the downtown Transit Center.

The Rutland Southern Vermont Regional Airport is located just south of the city, in North Clarendon. The airport offers daily flights to Boston operated by Cape Air.

Rutland is the largest city in Vermont that is not located on, or near, either of the state's two major Interstate highways.

U.S. Route 4 and

U.S. Route 7 intersect in Rutland and are the two main routes into the city. U.S. 7 connects Rutland with Manchester and Bennington to the south, and with Middlebury and Burlington to the north. To the east of Rutland, U.S. 4 travels through Killington and Woodstock on its way toward New Hampshire. To the west, U.S. 4 has been rebuilt as a 4-lane freeway to the New York state line, a distance of just over . It is currently the only limited-access freeway to serve Rutland. The former route of U.S. 4, which runs parallel to the freeway portion, is now signed as

Vermont Route 4A.

Demographics

{| class="toccolours" align="right" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="margin:0 0 0em 0em; font-size: 95%;"

As of the census of 2000, there were 17,292 people, 7,452 households, and 4209 families residing in the city. The population density was 2254.5 people per square mile (870.3/km²). There were 7,452 housing units at an average density of 94.49/sq mi (289.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.6% White, 0.7% African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.9% of the population.

There were 7,452 households out of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.8% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.5% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.80.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.3 years. For every 100 females there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.

Economy

One measure of economic activity is retail sales. Rutland stood third in the state in 2007 with $321.6 million.

Personal income

The median income for a household in the city was $30,478, and the median income for a family was $41,561. Males had a median income of $29,457 versus $23,688
for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,075. 15.4% of the population and 10.3% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 30.1% are under the age of 18 and 10.5% are 65 or older.

Industry

Major area employers are General Electric, OMYA and Central Vermont Public Service.

Recently, a area of land downtown known as "the pit", is slated for development. The new office building is planned to hold offices, education and civic space.

A judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit holds the Vermont seat here.

Culture

Ethnic Festival in 2008

The downtown section contains the Rutland Free Library, the Paramount Theater and Merchant's Row, a restored street dating back to the mid 1800s. One hundred-eight buildings in downtown Rutland are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Rutland also has a Pine Hill Park offering mountain biking, hiking, and other outdoor recreation. At the park's entrance is the Flip Side Skatepark, municipally operated in an open-sided closed roof arena at the Giorgetti Athletic Complex. Rutland is also home to the Diamond Run Mall, which is Vermont's third largest shopping center.

Rutland is host to summer events: Art In The Park and Friday Night Live, the Ethnic Festival, a Farmer's Market in downtown Rutland's Depot Park, and the Summer Concert Series.

The Rutland Halloween Parade has taken place annually since 1960.

The Vermont State Fair has been an annual event every September at the state fairgrounds.

Education

Public schools are managed by Rutland City School District. These are Rutland High School and four middle and elementary schools. The district also runs the Stafford Technical Center.
Private schools include the Catholic Christ the King School (elementary) and Mount Saint Joseph Academy (secondary), and the Rutland Area Christian School.

Media

The city's print news comes from the The Rutland Herald.

There are five radio stations licensed to Rutland: 94.5 WDVT, 97.1 WZRT, 98.1 WJJR, 105.3 WJEN, and 1380 AM WSYB.

Hospital

Rutland Regional Medical Center is Vermont's second-largest health care facility, with 188 inpatient beds and 120 physicians.

Sister city

Ishidoriya, Iwate, Japan
Since 1986, Rutland hosts an annual exchange called the Rutland Ishidoriya Student Exchange (R.I.S.E), sending 4-5 8th or 9th grade students to Ishidoriya, Japan. Interviews are held each year to find the ambassadors, and for 6 months money is raised through fundraising. In exchange, 5 students from Ishidoriya come to Rutland about a month after the Rutland ambassadors return each year.