Thetford, VT

Thetford is a town made up of five and a half villages on the Connecticut River, where the East and West Branches of the Ompompanoosuc River collect the watershed from hills descending from the ridges running north of the White River to the Green Mountains. About 2,500 people cohere around those villages, mostly in the lower reaches of these hills. About half of the working townspeople work in town, with the others mostly commuting about 20 minutes to the south to the business centers in Hanover and Lebanon, NH. The small size of the individual villages gives Thetford a very small-town feel, even as it has continued to grow in size. For 250 years, Dartmouth College has been a significant local employer, attracting both new residents and long-time locals. This consistent ratio of newcomers to oldtimers has remained steady for eight generations. If you are new to town, you'll likely find these communities enjoy a diversity of the old and new.