White River Junction Historic District is a historic district in the unincorporated village of White River Junction, within the town of Hartford, Vermont. It was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and its boundaries were increased in 2002. It originally encompassed the central portion of the village's business district, and was then expanded to include a broader array of resources.Description and historyThe village of White River Junction is located in central eastern Vermont, at the mouth of the White River where it joins the Connecticut River. First settled in the 1760s, it was from the 1840s to the 1960s the most important railroad junction in northern New England, providing an interchange point between the Boston and Maine Railroad (originally known as the Connecticut River Railroad), the Vermont Central Railway, which served Burlington, the Passumpsic Rivers Railroad, which served Newport, the Northern New Hampshire Railroad, serving Concord, New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts, and the Woodstock Railway, serving Woodstock, Vermont. Its central business district is located southwest of a bend in the Vermont Central tracks, which roughly parallel the White River as it enters the Connecticut. Over the period of its economic height, the business area grew, mainly to the west and south, with residential areas in the surrounding uplands and across the White River. The village's economy declined after railroad service was reduced in the mid-20th century.
