Located in southeastern Vermont, in Windham County, Townshend was chartered in 1753 as one of the New Hampshire Land Grants. This quintessential New England town includes plenty of open space, fantastic views, and a state park, located at the foot of Bald Mountain and on a bend of the West River.
People who live and work in and around Townshend choose to relocate to this area for a wide variety of reasons, only a few of which are listed below:
- Windham County (population 46,000) offers a rural lifestyle, yet with close proximity to urban centers. Brattleboro, located 17 miles from Townshend, is the largest population center (12,000) in the county. Boston is a 2.5-hour drive, New York City is 3.5 hours, and Montreal is 4 hours away. Atlantic Ocean beaches in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts can be reached in two to three hours. Bradley International Airport, in Windsor Locks, CT, is a 90-minute drive; Albany International Airport is two hours away.
- Recreational activities abound in this area. Stratton, Mount Snow, Bromley, and Magic Mountain all offer downhill skiing and snowboarding 30-45 minutes away, and Killington is 90 minutes away. Many X-country ski areas, including Grafton Trails, are just minutes away. Access to Vermont’s Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail is a half hour’s drive, and other hiking and walking trails are never more than a mile away, no matter where you are in the area. Many bodies of water (Lake Whitingham, Grout Pond, Gale Meadows Pond, Lowell Lake, the West River, and the Connecticut River) offer opportunities for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, and tubing.
- Southeastern Vermont is known for its robust and welcoming artistic and musical culture. The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Brattleboro Music Center, Marlboro Music Festival, Yellow Barn in Putney, the Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, the Weston Playhouse, New England Center for Circus Arts, and the Latchis Theatre are just a few of the active and vibrant venues.
- For more information about activities and events, the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce is a good up-to-date source.
- Food, glorious food is everywhere here, much of it fresh and locally grown. The Brattleboro Farmers’ Market operates year-round, indoors during the winter, and the West Townshend Farmer’s Market is open on Friday afternoons during the summer. Too numerous to mention here, artisanal cheeses are made locally, microbreweries are popping up all over, and restaurants, many of them farm-to-table, offer a wide variety of cuisine.
- Depending upon where you live, your daily commute might involve going through a covered bridge (there are four of them close to the hospital) or past bucolic town greens (also called town commons), beautiful historic churches with white steeples, small but jam-packed general stores, fresh produce stands, and greenhouses.
- The beauty of this area during all four seasons is breathtaking (well, mud season takes your breath away for an entirely different reason, but it doesn’t last long!). People travel from all over the world to view Vermont’s fall foliage, but winter, spring, and summer are equally spectacular here.
