New England Village

The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. A somewhat unique institution that does not quite have a direct counterpart in most other U.S. more...

Home
Cultures, Ethnicities
Decorative Collectibles
All God's Children
Andrea by Sadek
ANRI
Armani
Avon
Bing & Grondahl Coll Plates
Blue Sky Clayworks
Boyds
Bradford Exchange
Byers Choice
Cat's Meow Village
Charming Tails
Christopher Radko
Danbury Mint
David Winter
Dept 56
Alpine Village
Christmas in the City
Dickens Village
Accessories
Buildings
Mixed Lots
Other Items
Heritage Village
New England Village
North Pole
Other Dept 56 Collections
Snow Village
Accessories
Buildings
Mixed Lots
Other Items
Snowbabies
Figurines
Figurines Baby
Figurines Christmas
Figurines Friends
Hinged Boxes
Ornaments
Other Figurines
Other Items
Snowbunnies
Dreamsicles
Duncan Royale
Enesco
Faberge
Fitz & Floyd
Flambro
Franklin Mint
Halcyon Days
Hallmark
Hamilton Collector Plates
Harbour Lights
Harmony Kingdom
HOMCO
Hummel, Goebel
Josef
Knowles Collector Plates
Lefton Figurines
Lenox
Liberty Falls
Lilliput Lane
Limoges
Lladro
Longaberger
Madame Alexander
Margaret Furlong
Mary Engelbreit
Midwest of Cannon Falls
Norman Rockwell
Old World
Other Brands
PartyLite
Patricia Breen
Pendelfin
Polonaise
Precious Moments
Rein Poortvliet
Roman
Royal Copenhagen Coll Plates
Royal Doulton
San Francisco Music Box
Sarah's Attic
Schmid
Sebastian Miniatures
Shelia's
Slavic Treasures
Swarovski
Thomas Kinkade
Tom Clark
Unbranded
Wade Figurines
Wedgwood
Willitts
Willow Tree
Holiday, Seasonal
Religions, Spirituality

states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in that they were originally set up so that all territory would be completely covered by them. However, New England towns tend to be of greater importance in local government and civic identity than civil townships are in most of the states where the latter exist. New England towns are legally incorporated and have all the powers that a city in other states would normally have. In addition, virtually all incorporated municipalities in New England are based on the town model; uncommon are statutory forms based on the concept of a compact populated place, such as a village or borough. New England is the only region of the country where this is the case. Because virtually all residents live within the boundaries of an incorporated municipality, county government in New England is typically weak or nonexistent. The towns are of much greater importance than the counties are.

Characteristics of the New England town system

Towns are laid out so that all land within the boundaries of a state is allocated to a town or other incorporated municipality. Except in some very sparsely populated areas of the three northern New England states (primarily in the interior of Maine), the concept of unincorporated territory, even in rural areas, is unknown. With the exception of those very sparsely populated areas, every square inch of land in New England is within the boundaries of a town or other incorporated municipality.;

Towns are legally incorporated and have all the powers that a city in other states would normally have. Most towns have traditionally been governed by a town meeting form of government.;

Towns are typically centered around a built-up populated place with the same name as the town (a "town center"). However, they usually cover a larger area than said place, encompassing additional built-up places and/or a mixture of extraneous urban and rural territory. There is no unincorporated territory between the towns; leaving a town always means entering another town or other municipality. In most parts of New England, towns are irregular in shape and size and are not laid out on any type of grid (there are some exceptions to this, however; most notably, much of the interior of Maine was originally laid out as surveyed townships).;

Since virtually all residents live within the boundaries of an incorporated municipality, residents receive most local services at the municipal level, and county government tends to be very weak. In some areas, county government has been completely abolished.;

Residents usually identify very strongly with their town for purposes of civic identity, thinking of the town as a single, coherent community. While it is not unheard of for residents to identify more strongly with villages or sections of a town that with the town itself, this is certainly the exception, not the rule.;

Read more at Wikipedia.org