Bakersfield

Settled in the 1790s and named after a family of early proprietors, Bakersfield is a Franklin County town set in the foothills between the Lamoille River valley and the higher ridges to the east. The town was chartered in 1791, making it one of the later grants in Vermont's settlement period. Its early economy ran on sheep, timber, and the kind of stubborn hill farming that defined northern Vermont.

Bakersfield's village center sits at a crossroads with a few civic buildings, a church, and the town offices. The surrounding countryside is a mix of dairy farms and forest, and the town has retained its agricultural character even as neighboring communities have shifted toward tourism and second-home development. Brigham Young, the Mormon leader, was born just across the town line in Whitingham, but Bakersfield had its own notable residents among Vermont's missionary and reform movements of the early 1800s.

About 1,220 people call Bakersfield home. The town operates under the selectboard system, and its annual town meeting remains the primary forum for local decision-making -- a gathering where road budgets and school spending get the same direct scrutiny they have received for over two hundred years.