By the 1840s small firms had begun operations, but marble quarries only became profitable when the railroad came to Rutland in 1851.

At the same time, the famous quarries of Carrara in Tuscany, Italy, became largely unworkable because of their extreme depth, and Rutland quickly became one of the leading producers of marble in the world.

This fueled enough growth and investment that in 1886 the marble companies saw to it that when the present Rutland City was incorporated as a village, most of the town was split off as West Rutland and Proctor, which between them contained the bulk of the marble quarries.

Proctor was formed around the nucleus of the old Sutherland Falls from parts of Rutland and Pittsford.

The closing of the marble quarries in the town in the 1980s and 1990s cost the area many jobs, and Proctor has struggled much more than its neighbors.

Drained by Otter Creek, Proctor lies between the Taconic Range and Green Mountains.