Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #93 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 49 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1820.
Middlebury dates its founding to 1807 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Middlebury is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #93 of 155 in Connecticut. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
Connecticut towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Connecticut town has 73.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Middlebury’s 82.0 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 64 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1820 and 1890, then grew more than tenfold.
19 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Middlebury’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Middlebury. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Middlebury.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Middlebury.
Middlebury was incorporated as a town in 1807, and named from its central position relative to Waterbury, Woodbury, and Southbury.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Middlebury, cut from the printed page as they were published.
ensuing winter, eight sabbaths, at West Farms. In 1787, they appropriated £9 for the same object. In 1790, West Farms and the adjoining portions of Woodbury and Southbury were made into a distinct society by the name of Middlebury. The church was organized in 1796. Setli Bronson and Xathan Osborn were appointed deacons. The first minister. Rev. Ira Hart, was installed in 1798, and was dismissed April 5th, 1809.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1817, the college in Middlebury, Vermont, conferred on President Day the degree of doctor of laws, and in 1818, Union College, in Schenectady, the degree of doctor of divinity. The degree of doctor of divinity was likewise conferred on him, in 1831, by Harvard University.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereBennet Tyler is born hereBuiltNathaniel Richardson House is built
Born hereTheophil Mitchell Prudden is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltTranquility Farm is built
In the archivePostcardMiddleburyCTWestoverSchool1912
In the archiveBetty White (second from the right) and her cousin Carol, with other two Westover schoolm…
In the archiveCharles H. Upson, residence in Middlebury, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a03457
Born hereGrant Goodeve is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1912PostcardMiddleburyCTWestoverSchool1912Postcard
1915Betty and Wade White at Breakneck, 1915c. 1924Betty White (second from the right) and her cousin Ca…1939Charles H. Upson, residence in Middlebury, Connecticu…
1939Charles H. Upson, residence in Middlebury, Connecticu…
1939Charles H. Upson, residence in Middlebury, Connecticu…
1939Charles H. Upson, residence in Middlebury, Connecticu…
1939Charles H. Upson, residence in Middlebury, Connecticu…
1939Charles H. Upson, residence in Middlebury, Connecticu…
1939Charles H. Upson, residence in Middlebury, Connecticu…No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Middlebury’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Middlebury’s post office has been open since 1815.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1807, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Middlebury’s post office opened in 1815, and the census of 1820 counted 838 people here.
Middlebury is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #93 of 155 in Connecticut. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Nathaniel Richardson House (listed 1977, the first), and 1 historic district, the Middlebury Center Historic District, with 49 contributing buildings. 64 historic buildings in all.
16% of Middlebury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1976.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
