Samuel Averill and his various
associates received from Benning Wentworth a total of twenty-one
grants in what is now Vermont, plus several others in New
Hampshire. Eight of the Vermont grants were in the present Essex
County, accounting for more than half of the area as it
stands.
Averill was a prosperous businessman and land speculator living in
Kent, Connecticut at the time of the Vermont grants. Like like many
recipients of Wentworth grants, he never had any intention of
settling on his Vermont lands.
The only settlement this town has ever had is in the northernmost
tip. The population reached its peak at 48 in 1880. It is one of
the few towns in Vermont that has never had a post office in the
conventional sense: the office named Averill is actually over the
town line in Norton.
Other than lumbering and hunting, the only activity is a
family-operated summer resort on Forest Lake, sometimes called
Quimbys Lake after the family which operates the resort.
One of five towns (see also Ferdinand, Glastenbury, Lewis and
Somerset) in Vermont which have been discontinued for lack of
interest, so to speak. Population levels have dropped to such a
point (or never existed in the first place) that the towns have
been disenfranchised (unincorporated). Rather than having its own
government (Select Board, Town Clerk, etc.) the town's affairs are
administered by a state-appointed supervisor.
The population was 8 at the 2000 census, having dropped from a high
of 20 in 1950. There were 192 housing units at an average density
of 2.1/km² (5.3/mi²), 3 of which were household the remainder must
be “camps”?
The per capita income for the town was $9,876. None of the
population or families were below the poverty line.
Per capita, Averill was the poorest town in the Northeast Kingdom
and the next to last in Vermont. (I wonder which town is
last?)
Essex County
Chartered: June
29, 1762 (New Hampshire Grant)
Area: 24,556 Acres
= 38.37 Square Miles [ Size Rank: 159* ]
Altitude: 1,744
feet ASL
Population
(US Census, 2000): 8 [ Population Rank:
251*]
About the cache: Cross
the dam at the picturesque Little Averill pond. The area is mostly
camps, which is about all you’ll see up here. It’s a public boat
launch, but be careful where you park?
Cache is a small lock n lock on a wire hook, and should be findable
year round...
A Special Thanks to Mike Ott who replaced this cache for
us!