As Westmore is almost wholly upon the eastern branch of the Green Mountains, the surface is quite broken, though there is considerable fine level land, while the soil in general is susceptible of a high degree of cultivation. The principal peaks are Mt. Pisgah and Mt. Hor, in the southern part, and Westmore and Haystack Mountains and Bald Hill in the northern part of the territory. These mountains, with manv brooks and ponds, and the beautiful Willoughby lake, unite in forming a very charming landscape. Willoughby lake, which is described on page 167, is reckoned among the principal attractions of this section of the country, and attracts many tourists each season. Long pond lies in the central part of the town, and Bald Hill pond and Job's pond lies in the eastern part. The geological structure of the town is mostly granitic, except in the northern and southern parts, where the rocks are of the calciferous mica schist formation. 

       In 1880, Westmore had a population of 480, and in 1882, was divided into six school districts and contained six common schools, employing one male and thirteen female teachers, to whom was paid an aggregate salary of $554.85. There were 119 pupils attending common school, while the entire cost of the schools for the year, ending October 31st, was $593.97, with S.A. Hunt, superintendent. 

       Westmore, a post village located on the eastern side of Willoughby lake contains one, store, a hotel, two sawmills, a whetstone factory, and about seventy-five inhabitants. 

       J.C. Page's saw-mill, located on Page brook, was built by Page & Cheney in 1866. It cuts about 300,000 feet of lumber per year. 

       J.C. Orne's whetstone factory at Westmore was established in 1861, by L.F. Hayward, and purchased by Mr. Orne in 1865, who manufactures about 1,500 gross of whetstones per year. 

       Wendell Silsby's saw-mill, located on road 18, manufactures 500,000 feet of lumber and 1,000,000 shingles per year. 

       A.A. Brown's saw-mill, located on Mill brook, was built by Chester Aldrich in 1867. It cuts about 800,000 feet of lumber and clapboards per year. 

       Rufus Averill's saw-mill at Westmore cuts  1,000,000 feet of lumber and 1,000,000 shingles per annum. 

       Very few if any of the original grantees ever settled in the town and there is no record of the precise time, nor by whom, the first settlement was made. But some six or eight families came into the town from Windsor and Orange counties in 1795, and made a settlement, among whom were Jabez Hunter, Allen Wait, James Lyon, Jerethmel Cummings, Lot P. Woodruff, David Porter and Abel Bugbee. The town had not been allotted at this time, and they settled on such lands as best suited them, and others soon came and made a beginning. 

       A proprietors' meeting was held at Ryegate, March 7, 1800, when it was voted to survey and allot the town, and John Johnson was employed to make the survey. He completed the work that spring, as far as the first divisions were concerned. Another meeting was then held, at Danville, September 17, 1800, which received and accepted the allotment and survey of  Mr. Johnson and made a draft of lots and agreed that those who had settled in the town should have the lots on which they lived. An offer of 200 acres of land was made to David Porter if he would build the first sawmills and 200 more if he would build the first grist-mill, which were accepted and the mills were built and in good running order in the year 1804. The population gradually in- creased by immigration, and March 19, 1805, the town was organized and the first town meeting held. Jabez Hunter was chosen town clerk; Jerethmel Cummings, Allen Wait, and Lot P. Woodruff, selectmen; and Lot P. Woodruff, constable. The first freemen's meeting was held September 3, 1805. State offices were voted for, but no representative was chosen as it exempted the town from paying State taxes. 

       The settlement progressed and all was prosperous until the war came on, when fear of the British and Indians depopulated the township. After the war, until about 1830, but few settlements were made. About that time, however, the town  again began to be settled, some locating on the neglested farms and others making new settlements in various parts of the territory. In 1833, the town was reorganized, with David Wilson, town clerk; John C. Page was sent to the legislature that year, the representative from the town. The population increased very slowly. There was no public road leading through the town, and its appears to be a back and out-of-the-way place. The towns north and south of it had become quite thickly populated, and then arose a demand for a highway north and south through the township. There was no practicable route except along the eastern shore of Willoughby lake and there for several miles the land rose so abruptly from the shore and was so rough and rocky the town was not able to build a road there. But the demand for the road was so great that, in 1850, the court, by their commissioners appointed for the purpose, laid out the road and assessed the towns north and south to help make it.  Peter Gilman, of Westmore, took the contract to make the road and completed it in 1852. The opening of this road offered new inducements for settlers. The same year, Alonzo Bemis & Co., of Lyndon, built an elegant hotel at the south end of the lake, which is now known as the Willoughby Lake House, and another hotel was subsequently built on the eastern side of the lake. A little village soon sprung up on the east side of the lake, and the town has gradually increased in importance since. There is no house of worship in the town, the inhabitants depending upon the adjoining towns, or hold services in school-houses. 

       The following is the record of Westmore in the late war of the rebellion: C. T. Aldrich, Chauncey Allard, and Ambrose Allard, 9th Regt; Mark A. Amsden, 10th Regt., wounded; Marshall Burt, Walter Bickford, died May 14, 1863, 8th Regt.; William Bruce, 10th Regt.; Ebenezer J. Bruce, enlisted August 6, '62, and served thirty-four months; Lyman Brown, 10th Regt.; Hiram Cummings, nine months' man; James M. Cummings, nine months' man; Leander Davis, taken  prisoner, confined in Andersonville prison, died soon after his release; Joseph P. Dutton, 10th Regt.; James M. Craig, Loami C. Bean, W.C. Fogg, nine months' men afterwords drafted, and run to Canada; George R. Farr, drafted and run to Canada; William Chappell, drafted and accepted, run to Canada; Ira Chappell, drafted and accepted, run to Canada; E. S. Gilmore, 10th Regt.; Joseph Gilmore, John Hunt, 4th Regt.; Bradbury Hunt, 10th Regt., reported dead, wounded and carried from the battle field, not heard from afterwards; F.W. Root, 10th Regt.; Morrill Shepard, died October 20, '64 ; Willam H. Silsby, two years in service; John C. Page, two years in service; David J. Orne, Wesley Hayward, Henry and Elijah B. Hayward, not for this town, but lived here; Ivory Goodin two years in service; and S. B. Duke, and Harry Cheney.  E.J. Bruce, of this town, enlisted from Brownington, served two years and ten months. 
 
 

(Source: Gazetteer of Lamoille and Orleans Counties, VT.; 1883-1884, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child; May 1887, Page  288-64 to 288-66)
 

This excerpt was provided by Tom Dunn.