Saxtons River, Vermont

Saxtons River is an incorporated village in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States.

According to Bellows Falls-based historian Lyman Simpson Hayes, writing in 1907’s History of the Town of Rockingham, the first settlement of the area that would become Saxtons River occurred in 1783, when Amos P. Cummings cut down the first trees of an “entirely unbroken wilderness of immense trees of primitive growth.”[7] As late as 1795, there existed only two houses in the village — population growth was extremely slow.

The company created Barbers Park, east of the Saxtons River about halfway between the villages, to which summertime crowds took the trolleys to baseball games and amusement rides.

Located mostly inside the Village boundaries, and a strong influence on the character and economy of Saxtons River, is Vermont Academy, a private, co-educational high school founded in 1876.

[11] In 1974, the Campbell family (which at that time represented 1/40th of the population of the village according to the New York Times article "21 Campbells and One Charming Vermont Inn") reopened the aging Saxtons River Inn, "a 1903 relic on Main Street", full of peeling paint and "hoods of abandoned Cadillacs propped up on the sagging porches.

Start of a game of water polo on Main St, Saxtons River, after the 4th of July parade in 2013. The game is played by volunteer firefighters with fire hoses, trying to spray the ball down the street to a goal. Looking west at the Saxtons River Historical Society (a former Congregational church).
Main Street Saxtons River — showcasing the Inn at Saxtons River and the Village Market on the right
19th Century Woolen Manufacturers of Saxtons River
The Saxton's River Hotel [sic] before it was taken down in 1903.
Saxtons River Falls, or Middle Falls as it was historically known.
Map of Vermont highlighting Windham County