Caledonia County, Vermont

Caledonia County is a county in Vermont, United States, in the northeastern part of the state along the New Hampshire border. It had a population of 30,233 at the 2020 census and covers 658 square miles (1,700 km2), of which 649 square miles (1,680 km2) are land, centred near 44°28′N 72°06′W.

St. Johnsbury is the county seat and shire town, and its postal code is 05819. The county has 17 towns, no incorporated cities, and roughly 20 recognized villages and unincorporated hamlets. Caledonia County uses the Eastern time zone, and its FIPS code is 50005.

Towns & Villages in Caledonia County

Vermont has no county government layer between town and state, so every place below is either one of the county’s 17 towns or a village/hamlet that sits inside one of those towns. “Town” rows are the incorporated municipalities that appear on the ballot and pay county tax; “Unincorp.” rows are village centers, mill hamlets, and crossroads with no separate government, listed under their parent town.

A few names from older lists are duplicates or mill-site labels rather than distinct settlements and are not repeated here: “Sunmit” is a misspelling of Summit (a Lyndon locality already covered by Lyndon Center), and “Lyndon Center” was previously listed twice. Small mill sites such as Coles Corner, Dows Crossing, Ewells Mills, Folsom, Goslants Mill, Green Bay, Greenbank Hollow, Hardwick Street, Harvey Hollow, Mackville, Morses Mills, Mosquitoville, Nevesville, Newark Hollow, Ramsey Corner, Ricker Mills, Smith Corner, Summit, and Taylor Bridge are historic crossroads named on old atlases; they have no current population figures or ZIP codes of their own and are grouped under their parent towns above rather than listed individually.

ZIP Codes

• 05819 — St. Johnsbury (also serves East St. Johnsbury and St. Johnsbury Center)
• 05851 — Lyndonville (also serves Lyndon)
• 05850 — Lyndon Center
• 05843 — Hardwick
• 05836 — East Hardwick
• 05828 — Danville
• 05873 — West Danville
• 05821 — Barnet
• 05050 — McIndoe Falls
• 05861 — Passumpsic
• 05848 — Lower Waterford
• 05832 — East Burke
• 05871 — West Burke
• 05069 — South Ryegate
• 05042 — East Ryegate
• 05046 — Groton
• 05862 — Peacham
• 05866 — Sheffield
• 05867 — Sutton

Walden, Wheelock, Newark, Kirby, and Stannard have no post office of their own; residents there use a neighboring town’s ZIP code depending on which road they live on.

Geography

Caledonia County sits on the western edge of the Northeast Kingdom, where the Green Mountains’ foothills meet the Connecticut River valley. The Passumpsic River and its branches drain most of the county south into the Connecticut River, which forms the county’s eastern border with New Hampshire; Joe’s Pond and Ticklenaked Pond are among its larger natural water bodies. Burke Mountain, in the county’s north, rises to about 3,267 feet and is the site of a ski resort and the Kingdom Trails mountain-biking network.

Caledonia County borders Orleans County to the north, Essex County to the northeast, Grafton County, New Hampshire to the east across the Connecticut River, Washington County to the southwest, Orange County to the south, and Lamoille County to the west.

Demographics

Caledonia County had 30,233 residents at the 2020 census, giving it a density of about 47 people per square mile of land. St. Johnsbury (7,364) and Lyndon (5,491) are the two largest towns and together hold roughly 42 percent of the county’s population; every other town has fewer than 3,000 residents. Median household income in the county runs well below the Vermont median of $81,211 — Caledonia is one of the state’s more rural, lower-income counties, reflecting its dependence on agriculture, forestry, and seasonal tourism rather than the higher-wage sectors found around Burlington and Chittenden County.

Economy & Local Life

St. Johnsbury has been the county’s commercial anchor since the 19th century, when the Fairbanks family’s platform-scale works (E. & T. Fairbanks & Co.) made the town a manufacturing center and funded civic landmarks that still operate today, including the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium and the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. St. Johnsbury Academy, a private secondary school that also serves as the public high school for surrounding towns under Vermont’s tuitioning system, is one of the county’s largest employers. Hardwick and the towns around it built an economy on granite quarrying and dairy farming, and the area has more recently become known for artisanal food production. Burke Mountain Resort in the town of Burke draws winter skiers and, in warmer months, mountain bikers to the Kingdom Trails network. Maple sugaring remains a significant seasonal industry across the county.

History

Caledonia County was chartered by the Vermont legislature in 1792 and organized as a functioning county government in 1796, carved from Orange County. It takes its name from Caledonia, the Latin name for Scotland, chosen to honor the many early settlers who traced their ancestry there. The area saw earlier military history: in 1759, Rogers’ Rangers retreated through the region after their raid on the Abenaki settlement of Saint-Francis in Quebec. St. Johnsbury grew from an 18th-century mill town into the county’s commercial center after the Fairbanks scale works opened there in the 1830s, and the railroad arrived soon after, cementing the town’s role as the Northeast Kingdom’s trading hub.

Getting There

Interstate 91 runs north–south through the county along the Connecticut River valley, and Interstate 93 has its northern terminus at I-91 in St. Johnsbury. U.S. Routes 2, 5, and 302 also cross the county.

• Montpelier — about 35 miles southwest
• Burlington — about 65 miles west
• White River Junction — about 45 miles south
• Littleton, New Hampshire — about 20 miles east

The nearest commercial airport is Burlington International Airport, roughly 70 miles west via I-89 and US-2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Caledonia County, Vermont?
It is in the northeastern part of Vermont, in the Northeast Kingdom, bordering New Hampshire across the Connecticut River.

What is the population of Caledonia County?
30,233 people, according to the 2020 census.

How big is Caledonia County?
658 square miles (1,700 km2), of which 649 square miles is land.

What is the county seat of Caledonia County?
St. Johnsbury, also called the shire town, is the county seat.

How many towns are in Caledonia County?
Seventeen towns, plus about 20 unincorporated villages and hamlets within them.

What ZIP codes are in Caledonia County?
ZIP codes range from 05819 (St. Johnsbury) to 05873 (West Danville); see the ZIP Codes section above for the full list.

Where did the name Caledonia come from?
Caledonia is the Latin name for Scotland, chosen in 1792 to honor the many early settlers who claimed Scottish ancestry.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Vermont.