Townshend is a town in Windham County, in the Southern Vermont region of Vermont. The town was named for named for Charles Townshend of England who was most notable for his fondness for taxing the colonies. His most famous tax was the tax on tea that helped to push the colonies into declaring independence.

H.P. Lovecraft's story "The Whisperer in Darkness" is set near Townshend, the movie "Funny Farm" with Chevy Chase was filmed in Townshend, and Jodi Picoult's novel "House Rules" is set in Townshend.

Some notable people from Townshend include: Peter W. Galbraith, former ambassador to Croatia & author of "The End of Iraq;" Clarina I.H. Nichols, journalist & lobbyist involved in temperence, abolition, & women's movement; Alphonso Taft, Attorney General & Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant; Marshall H. Twitchell, Union Army captain & Reconstruction figure in Bienville & Red River parishes in north Louisiana; and Attila Zoller, guitarist.