[3] The main settlement of Shelburne in the center of town is a census-designated place (CDP), with a population of 6,178 at the 2020 census.

[4] Shelburne municipality has the highest median income in both Chittenden County and the Burlington metropolitan area.

[5] Shelburne was chartered by New Hampshire, August 18, 1763, to Jesse Hallock and 64 associates by governor Benning Wentworth.

According to the charter, the town was to have an area of 23,500 acres (95.1 km2), or a tract a little over 6 square miles (15.5 km2), but owing to a blunder on the part of the surveyors, it was shorn of a large portion of its possessions.

A carding and fulling mill, a gristmill, a sawmill, and a blacksmith shop were erected on the La Platte River at Shelburne Falls.

[citation needed] The Lake Champlain Transportation Company established its shipyard at Shelburne Harbor and launched its first steamboat, the General Green, in 1825; this was followed by ten others before the Ticonderoga in 1906.

The town contains businesses, including manufacturers, service providers, retail establishments and the state's largest continuing care retirement community.

[citation needed] In 2007 a historic inn was converted into a mixed use array of offices, small retail, and a restaurant.

[12] The town maintains a beach on Lake Champlain which has a boat launch and nature park.

In 2017, it was sold to the owners of the Stowe Reporter[13] who then created the Vermont Community Newspaper Group in 2019.