Bristol, Vermont, New England USA

About Bristol, Vermont

Addison County
Chartered: June 26, 1762 (New Hampshire Grant)
Area: 26,372 Acres = 41.21 Square Miles [ Size Rank: 105* ]
Coordinates (Geographic Center): N 44° 08′ W 73°04′
Altitude: 570 feet ASL
Population (US Census, 2010): 3,894 [ Population Rank: 39* ]
Population Density (persons per square mile): 94.5 [ Density Rank: 45* ]
Full Census Info: Town County State

*Area, Population and Density rankings refer to Bristol’s relative position among Vermont’s 255 civic entities (9 cities, 242 towns, 4 gores and grants). Complete rankings are here.

Originally granted as Pocock, after Admiral Sir George Pocock, the son of an English Vicar, who joined the navy at the age of 12 and rose steadily through the ranks to command the fleet which had just taken Havana from the Spanish. The rank, title and £122,000 were his reward. He later married a descendant of Sir Francis Drake.

Renamed Bristol in 1789, generally believed to be after Bristol, Rhode Island (which is, in turn, after the English city and county, where the name means “place by the bridge”).

The nearly solid rock area known as Hell’s Half Acre is the focal point of the hundred-plus year old story of an old Spaniard, who claimed that when he was very young, his father and others had mined a vast amount of silver in the mountains and hid it against their eventual return. The Spaniard never found the silver, and every subsequent generation has seen a number of other searchers trying. As a result, the area is honeycombed with tunnels and pits.

Once simply Bristol Pond, the largest body of water is now known by the somewhat more fanciful Lake Winona, after the mother of Hiawatha in Longfellow’s poem.

Activities & Points of Interest

Goings-on in and near Bristol
Calendar of Events provided by the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing.

Bristol Historical Society

Contact Info

Emergency Services (Statewide): 911
Hospital: Porter Medical Center (Middlebury) 802-388-7901

Town Clerk: Therese Kirby PO Box 249 Bristol, VT 05443
802-453-2486
M-F 8-4:30

Churches, Ministries, Charitables

Baptist : First Baptist Church 802-453-2551
Roman Catholic : St. Ambrose
United Church of Christ : United Church of Christ
United Methodist : Bristol Federated 802-453-2321
United Methodist : Lincoln United UMC Of Ludlow 802-453-4280

Schools

Addison Northeast Supervisory Union 802-453-3657
Bristol Elementary School 802-453-3227
Lincoln Community School 802-453-2119
Mount Abraham Union High School 802-453-2333

Neighboring Towns

This is a basic geographic reference, intended to show relative location of adjacent towns. Directional accuracy is limited to 16 compass points. There isn’t even the slightest suggestion that one can necessarily travel directly from one town to the next (as in “You can’t get there from here”).

Monkton

Starksboro

New Haven

Bristol

Lincoln

Middlebury

Ripton

Utilities

Notes about utilities:

  • One electric or phone company indicates that company serves the entire town. More than one of either indicates each serves different areas of town.
  • A listed cable company MIGHT mean the entire town is covered, but not necessarily. More than one listed indicates each serves different areas of town.
  • Unless your area is one served by Vermont’s only gas utility, your only option is bottled gas (any dealer).
    Cable Comcast 800-266-2278
    Electric Green Mountain Power 888-835-4672
    Telephone Waitsfield & Champlain Valley Telecom 802-496-3391

Bristol WA Steam Locomotive Train Wreck Otto Pautzke Matted Photo May 17 1909 picture

Bristol WA Steam Locomotive Train Wreck Otto Pautzke Matted Photo May 17 1909

$95.00



Bristol 9pt. Redemption Tickets - 2,000 Count Skee Ball Cherry Master Redemption picture

Bristol 9pt. Redemption Tickets - 2,000 Count Skee Ball Cherry Master Redemption

$18.89



Postcard Mt. Cardigan from Akerman House Bristol New Hampshire picture

Postcard Mt. Cardigan from Akerman House Bristol New Hampshire

$4.75



Postcard Newfound Lake Bristol NH K13 picture

Postcard Newfound Lake Bristol NH K13

$1.07



Postcard VA Bristol Air View of Sullins College 1945 Linen Old PC Vintage e538 picture

Postcard VA Bristol Air View of Sullins College 1945 Linen Old PC Vintage e538

$5.00



Postcard The Choir Bristol Cathedral Bristol England picture

Postcard The Choir Bristol Cathedral Bristol England

$9.09



Central Presbyterian Church, Bristol, Tennessee - Postcard picture

Central Presbyterian Church, Bristol, Tennessee - Postcard

$10.77



Bristol & Johnson City Tennessee State Shrine Historic Landmark Chrome Postcard picture

Bristol & Johnson City Tennessee State Shrine Historic Landmark Chrome Postcard

$3.00



1909 train report BRISTOL & PLAINVILLE TRAMWAY Terryville ~ Lake Compounce CT  picture

1909 train report BRISTOL & PLAINVILLE TRAMWAY Terryville ~ Lake Compounce CT

$9.95



Bristol Bulldog Model, RAF, Mahogany, 1/24 Scale, Interwar Period, Fighter picture

Bristol Bulldog Model, RAF, Mahogany, 1/24 Scale, Interwar Period, Fighter

$359.00