Proctor | |
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Town | |
Proctor Free Library
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Nickname(s): Proctor | |
Proctor, Vermont |
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Coordinates: 43°40′N 73°2′W / 43.667°N 73.033°WCoordinates: 43°40′N 73°2′W / 43.667°N 73.033°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Vermont |
County | Rutland |
Chartered | 1886 |
Area | |
• Total | 7.6 sq mi (19.7 km2) |
• Land | 7.6 sq mi (19.6 km2) |
• Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2) |
Elevation | 482 ft (147 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 1,741 |
• Density | 230/sq mi (88/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 05765 |
Area code(s) | 802 |
FIPS code | 50-57250 |
GNIS feature ID | 1462180 |
Proctor is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,741 at the 2010 census. Proctor is home to the Vermont Marble Museum and Wilson Castle.
In the early 19th century, small high-quality marble deposits were discovered in Rutland, and in the 1830s a large deposit of nearly solid marble of high quality was found in what is now West Rutland. 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. Proctor was named for and almost completely owned by Senator Redfield Proctor. 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. In 2004 the Proctor Marble Arch Bridge restoration project was the recipient of the Marble Institute Award of Merit for "commitment to preservation of the original stonework."
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.6 square miles (20 km2), of which 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2), or 0.39%, is water. Drained by Otter Creek, Proctor lies between the Taconic Range and Green Mountains.