Milton: "Paradise Found?"
by Molly Walsh

      When Paul and Tina Garrow were shopping for a house 
in Chittenden County, they were looking for a place that 
recalled their upbringing in rural Vermont, but wasn't too far 
from urban amentities. Like many home buyers in the past 10 
years, the Garrows were seduced by Milton's proximity 
to Burlington,  lovely woods and lake access, as well as 
the relatively low real estate prices.
        Two years ago the couple put their savings into a 
three bedroom house that sits on 10 acres.  They couldn't 
be happier with their choice.   The town is "big enough, but 
it's still small," said Paul Garrow.  "Everybody is really friendly.  
You still get a cozy feeling about the town."

       Milton is one of the fastest-growing communities 
in Chittenden County. The population of 9,112 has quadrupled 
since 1960.  Milton home prices average about $16,000 less than 
the $125,000 county average.  Those bargains have contributed to 
an 8.2 percent increase in Milton housing units between 1990 
and 1994 (within Chittenden County, only Williston and 
Colchester have seen increases on a larger scale).

       The sprawling, 38,336-acre town is 15 miles north 
of Burlington.  It has long been admired for its natural 
beauty: Stunning views of Lake Champlain, the rush and rumble 
of the falls on the Lamoille River, open farmland and 
old-growth forest.  Lake Arrowhead, on the north side of town, is 
a popular place to canoe, drive motor boats and watch birds. 
The lake is five miles long and one-half mile at its widest point, with boat access but 
no sizable beaches. It was formed from the damned Lamoille River in 1938. Milton 
also offers swimming and boating access at nearby Sand Bar State Park, located on Rte. 2 
in Milton just before the causeway to the Champlain Islands -- 
a popular place for swimmers, sail boarders, picnickers and boaters.

 
        Milton was named after the English Romantic poet 
John Milton, author of "Paradise Lost."  Early settlers made 
their livings off the land as lumberjacks, mill workers, and farmers.  The historic center 
of Milton is a charming stretch 
of Victorian homes and buildings along Main Street and around 
the corner from Clark Falls on the Lamoille River.
        Today there are only a handful of working farms in 
Milton. But even as surbanization increases, it is a place 
where open land is plentiful.

        As Milton grows, small businesses are mushrooming and 
the town is working hard to recruit larger employers.  
Catamount Industrial Park, a 174 acre park  just north of I-89 
exit 17, was built in 1983 with the promise of bringing 
well-paying jobs to the town. "We are going after it," Jim 
Fitz-gerald, Milton town Mana-ger, said. "This is a good place 
to do business and Milton is a good town."

 
         Milton's major employer is the school district, with 
267 workers. Most commercial growth has been concentrated on 
U.S. 7 in a section of Milton known as the Middle Road 
District. This emerging center is home to the new municipal 
center, the town recreation area, the high school, a Grand 
Union grocery store and several shops and restaurants.

       Milton residents have struggled to educate an 
increasing numbers of students.  Until recently, taxpayers 
and school boards were at odds over budgets, resulting in 
the defeat of several proposed school budgets.   Last year, however, taxpayers 
approved a major school expansion that will 
add a new wing to the elementary school on Herrick Avenue, 
enabling grades K-6 to be housed in the same building, and a 
$1.3 million municipal center that opened last summer. 
The building, just off Rte. 7, is also home to an expanded local library.
         
         Kate Quinn Finlay, Executive Director  of the 
Milton Family Community  Center, takes pride in the fact 
that when budget restraints recently threatened 
extracurricular school activities, residents raised thousands 
of dollars to keep them in.  "It was moms and dads that were 
out raising money to keep the extracurricular activities 
intact," Finlay said.




In Milton, many view the town as the best-kept secret in 
Chittenden County. Friends discouraged Marie Hall, president of 
the Milton Woman's Club, from moving to Milton 23 years ago. 
"I think when I first moved here, the impression was that 
every house had an old junked car parked in the yard, maybe 
more than one," she said. But she has loved the town and is 
happy to see it growing.
        


Milton 1995-96 Enrollment Numbers


Grades K-4 		790

		
Grades 5 + 6	286


Grades 7 - 12	783		

Copyright 1996 Picket Fence Preview, Inc.