Dudley Chase, a grantee, was on a surveying expedition with a group of men. The men made camp in an area near the entrance to Gilead Brook road where there is a group of large moss covered rocks. The men slept on the rocks and upon waking, Dudley Chase declared that it was the best night sleeping he had just like the Biblical experience of Jacob when sleeping in a field with a stone for a pillow. In the Biblical story, Jacob named the place Beth-el. Chase's associates were so impressed that they named the town the same.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,968 people, 817 households, and 548 families residing in the town. The population density was 43.4 people per square mile. There were 956 housing units at an average density of 21.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97.82% White, 0.25% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.05% from other races, and 1.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.47% of the population. There were 817 households, out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.87. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.7% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males. The median income for a household in the town of Bethel was $34,141, and the median income for a family was $41,250. Males had a median income of $30,109 versus $21,829 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,577. About 7.9% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over.
Since 2016, the town has focused on revitalizing the downtown. Each Fall, there is a "Bethel Better Block" event with a focus on bringing people downtown and fostering community with pop up shops and street art. In the Winter, Bethel presents Bethel University, a chance for community members to teach and learn from each other. In Spring of 2017, the Vermont Arts Council awarded Bethel a grant that funded three community arts projects, including a trout mural, lamp post banners by a local artist, and sculpture benches.
Bethel is featured in the 2007 film I Am Legend, where it serves a fortified colony of uninfected survivors from a "cancer cure" that mutates into a virus and becomes a pandemic, killing over 90% the human populace of the world in the film's then-future of December 2009. However, the Bethel scenes at the close of the film were actually filmed in the New Jersey town of Mt. Airy.
In 2005, a Bethel teen was the focus of an episode of the MTV reality show, MADE.
