Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 19.7 km² (7.6 mi²). 19.6 km² (7.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.39% water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 1,877 people, 756 households, and 530 families residing in the town. The population density is 95.9/km² (248.2/mi²). There are 791 housing units at an average density of 40.4/km² (104.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 99.04% White, 0.16% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.05% from other races, and 0.53% from two or more races. 0.59% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 756 households out of which 33.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% are married couples living together, 12.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 29.8% are non-families. 24.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 13.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.48 and the average family size is 2.94.
In the town the population is spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 39 years. For every 100 females there are 87.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $39,773, and the median income for a family is $45,625. Males have a median income of $33,214 versus $25,197 for females. The per capita income for the town is $18,214. 9.2% of the population and 6.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 10.9% are under the age of 18 and 13.0% are 65 or older.
History
In the early 1800s, 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. As fate would have it, the famous quarries of Carrara in Tuscany, Italy, became largely unworkable because of their extreme depth at the same time, 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 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, was formed around the nucleus of the old Sheffield Village 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.