Soon after Thetford was chartered in 1761, settlers from southern New England arrived and began transforming the forestland into a community. They took advantage of both the Connecticut River and the Ompompanoosuc River to forge a lively and self-sustaining collection of mill villages within the town. The railroad arrived in 1848, enabling three depot villages to blossom. Thetford Hill, with neither mills nor transportation, became home to the renowned Thetford Academy, the first coeducational secondary school in Vermont. Thetford's mill-based commerce ebbed significantly by 1900, but tourism became a prevalent industry, with city dwellers flocking to summer retreats such as Camp Hanoum and the Lake Fairlee camps. Despite fires, floods, and hurricanes, as well as the construction of the Union Village Dam in 1950 and Interstate 91 in 1971, Thetford has retained its resilient spirit and looks much as it did a century ago.