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History · Croydon

Croydon’s post office opened in 1824, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1790.

1824first post office

0on the National Register

16%homes built before 1940

5famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Photo: Ken Gallager at Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Quick answers

How Croydon began

When was Croydon founded?

1824

The Croydon post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Croydon Flat (1840), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 537 in 17902020 census: 801202 years

Founding year: the first Croydon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Croydon’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Croydon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.On the map since 19024 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1998. Watch Croydon change.Deep rootsA post office since 1824: 202 years of Croydon.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Croydon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Croydon’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Croydon, census by census

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Croydon’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Croydon on the map, 1902 to 1998

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Croydon. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1902Sunapee sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Croydon.

The story

How Croydon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Croydon.

Read it all →

Incorporated in 1763, the town takes its name from Croydon, a suburb of London, England.

Croydon was home to Ruel Durkee, a powerful 19th century political boss in the state. The town of "Coniston" in the 1906 best-selling novel of the same name, by American author Winston Churchill, is based on Croydon, and Durkee was portrayed as "Jethro Bass". The local Coniston General Store is named after the novel, as are YMCA Camp Coniston and Lake Coniston in the eastern part of the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Croydon, 1789 to 1965

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

18th century
1789Born hereGershom Powers is born here
19th century
1818Born hereWhitman G. Ferrin is born here
1820CensusPopulation peaks at 1,060
1824Post officeThe Croydon post office opens
1835Born hereAugusta Cooper Bristol is born here
1840Post officeThe Croydon Flat post office opens
1844Born hereWallace L. Dow is born here
20th century
1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1916Post officeThe Croydon Flat post office closes
1965Post officeThe Croydon post office closes

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

Add from your album

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Croydon

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Augusta Cooper BristolAmerican poet, lecturer · b. 1835

Gershom PowersAmerican politician · b. 1789

Wallace L. DowAmerican architect · b. 1844

Whitman G. FerrinAmerican politician · b. 1818

Samuel Read HallAmerican educator · b. 1795

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Croydon had its own post office from 1824 to 1965. Another post office, Croydon Flat, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Croydon

1824–1965

Croydon Flat

1840–1916

18201920today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Croydon FlatRyder Corner

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Croydon

East VillageThe Pinacle

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Cornish10 historic placesA⁺GranthamIts storyC⁺Newport11 historic placesA⁺SunapeeIts storyB Springfield2 historic placesA⁻

Questions about Croydon’s history

What year was Croydon founded?

The Croydon post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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