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Duxbury: Surviving and Thriving
Duxbury: Surviving and Thriving
by Sen. Bill Doyle
Duxbury was chartered by King George III in June of 1763. There were 65 owners and none ever visited Duxbury.
The year 1763 was a difficult year to attract settlers. New York claimed Duxbury and other New Hampshire grants and there was great tension between England and the rebellious American colonies. According to the first U.S. Census in 1790, Duxbury had 39 inhabitants, and 10 years later this had increased to 153.
There are several explanations as to how Duxbury got its name. One theory was it was a duplicate of Duxbury, England. “In old Saxon ‘bury’ signifies a fortification, or fortified place, and ‘Dux’ meaning a chieftain or leader.” The other theory is the name of the town came from Duxbury, Massachusetts. That town was settled by William Brewster, Miles Standish, John Alden, and others, and was incorporated in 1637 as Duxborough.
The early settlers who came to Duxbury were from New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts. According to Duxbury historian, the late Alice DeLong, “Some were younger sons who migrated northward because there was no family land left for them to inherit. Some had fought in the Revolutionary War and had seen the land along the Winooski River and had liked the look of it. Some came because the soil in the “lower colonies” was already wearing out. And some must have come for the sheer adventure of it.” According to DeLong, “one settler arrived in Duxbury” in the late fall with with “no boots at all: to cut firewood in the snow, he tied wood chips to his feet.”
By 1850 there were nine school districts and the school in each district served as a learning center, a meeting place, and a place where church services were held. In 1905 the cost of operating each school district was less than $240 a year.
The worst disaster from 1860-1990 was the 1927 flood, which swept away many homes, bridges, sawmills, and railroad tracks. The flood claimed the lives of 20 people in Duxbury and Waterbury village. For some time after the flood, “a hastily-built flat-bottom barge ferried passengers across the Winooski to the outside world.”
During World War II, a B-24 bomber crashed just below the summit of Camel’s Hump. The lone survivor, James Wilson from Florida, waited several days in the October cold before he was rescued by a search group made up of locals, Boy Scouts and CAP Cadets. It is said that debris from the crash is still found to this day.
After Camel’s Hump was designated a “Natural Area” in 1966, Governor Phill Hoff and Secretary of the Interior Mo Udall hiked to the summit to place a plaque on the mountain top.
From 1950 to 2000, the population of Duxbury increased from 489 to 1289. During that period, the district elementary schools were closed and the students now attend Crossett Brook School. High school students from Duxbury, who would have attended high schools in Waterbury, Waitsfield, Northfield and Montpelier, now go to Harwood Union High School in Duxbury. The building of Interstate 89 increased educational and job opportunities for those living in Duxbury and surrounding towns.
According to Duxbury historian DeLong, the final change in recent years related to teachers “who fixed up old farmhouses on the back roads and so preserved an important part of our agricultural heritage; skiers, attracted to the nearby ski areas in Stowe and the Mad River Valley; and retired people who enjoy their summers in Vermont and winters in a warmer climate.”
Senator Bill Doyle serves on the Senate Education Committee and Senate Economic Affairs Committee, and is the Senate Minority Leader. He teaches government history at Johnson State College. He can be reached at 186 Murray Road, Montpelier, VT 05602; e-mail wdoyle@leg.state.vt.us; or call 223-2851.
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