Geography
West Rutland is located at 43°36'38" North, 72°58'23" West, elevation 197.5 m (648 ft.) 1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 46.28 km² (17.87 mi²).
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 2,535 people, 1,691 households, and 1166 families residing in the town. The population density is 54.7/km² (72.0/mi²). There are 1,079 housing units at an average density of 23.31/km² (60.38/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 97.9% White, 0.4% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.04% are Pacific Islander, 0.04% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. 0.4% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 1,021 households out of which 30.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% are married couples living together, 10.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% are non-families. 25.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.7% 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 3.00.
In the town the population is spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 39.0 years. For every 100 females there are 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 95.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $37,389, and the median income for a family is $41,955. Males have a median income of $30,962 versus $21,935 for females. The per capita income for the town is $17,325. 14.7% of the population and 11.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 60.8% are under the age of 18 and 9.2% are 65 or older.
History
The town of Rutland was originally granted in 1761 as one of the New Hampshire Grants and named after Rutland, Massachusetts, the home of the first grantee, John Murrey. It was one of the most successful of those grants because of the excellent farmland and gentle topography.
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, Although the closing of the marble quarries in the area in the [[1980s and 1990s cost the town many jobs, West Rutland has attracted artists and families looking for a semi-rural lifestyle.