Barton is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,780 at the 2000 census. The town includes two incorporated villages, Barton and Orleans. Approximately 30% of the town's population lived in the village of Orleans, 27% in the village of Barton, and 43% outside of the villages. There are only four other towns in the state containing two incorporated villages.HistoryRogers' Rangers were forced to retreat through the area following their attack on Saint-Francis, Quebec in 1759. The fleeing rangers split up before getting to Barton. One group followed the Barton River south to the falls at the outlet of Crystal Lake where they were able to catch fish. From there, they continued south over the summit into the Passumpsic River Valley. Barton was chartered on October 20, 1789. The grant was to sixty Revolutionary War soldiers, mainly from Rhode Island and including Admiral John Paul Jones, General William Barton, and Ira Allen. Prior to formal chartering, the town was known as "Providence."From 1791 to 1793 Timothy Hinman built what is now called the "Hinman Settler Road" linking Barton south to Greensboro and north through Brownington to Derby and Canada. The early settlers of Barton found Indian wigwams, in a decayed condition, quite numerous in the vicinity of the outlet of Barton pond (sic), from which it was inferred that it was a favorite camping ground. It is stated that an Indian, Foosah, claimed he killed twenty-seven moose, beside large numbers of beaver and otter near this pond in the winter of 1783-84.
