Proctorsville, VT

Proctorsville is a census-designated place in Cavendish, Windsor County, centered where Vermont Routes 131 and 103 meet beside the Black River. The 2020 census counted 451 residents. Route 131 heads east through Cavendish village toward Ascutney; Route 103 runs west to Ludlow and south through Proctorsville Gulf to Chester. The river and the crossroads give the village its basic shape, with the Green Mountains close by and the Connecticut River valley beyond.

Leonard Proctor arrived with his family in 1782 and gave the village its name. The Black River turned Cavendish into a mill town, and Proctorsville's woolen mill became one of Vermont's larger mills after its reorganization in 1877. The village government later merged into the Town of Cavendish in 1986, but the old center remains a distinct stop along the river. Proctorsville carries the marks of a working mill village: water beside the road, old buildings around the junction, and a name that still points back to its first settler.