The Bennington post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Folsomdale (1853), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 796 in 18202020 census: 3,235208 years
How historic is Bennington?
B+
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bennington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bennington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bennington is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #538 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bennington’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bennington’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
What stands out about Bennington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Town of Bennington was formed in 1818 from the Town of Sheldon. The Town of Bennington officially came into existence on March 6, 1818. The name came from Bennington, Vermont.
This narrative was written by Alma Janish, a former Town Historian, archived from the original on July 7, 2011:
"In 1802, the land of Bennington was part of the Town of Batavia, Genesee County. Then in 1808, the land was taken from the Town of Batavia, to form the Town of Sheldon. Finally, on March 6, 1818, the land of Bennington was taken from Sheldon to form the Town of Bennington.
In the summer of 1802, John Tolles settled in Bennington. He settled in the area known over the years as Hubbard's Corners, Danley's Corners and the "Beehive".
Passages that mention Bennington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Centennial anniversary of the independence of the state of Vermont and the battle of Bennington, August 15 and 16, 18771879 · page 171Read the page →
Read the text
Baum set off with his force on the 13th of August, and arrived the same day at Cambridge, sixteen miles from Bennington. Early the next morning he reached Sancoick, a small settlement near the mouth of the White Creek branch of the Walloomsac river about half a mile below the present village of North Hoosick. Here he found a party of Americans in possession of a mill which they abandoned on his approach, and in the mill, on the head of a barrel, he wrote Burgoyne an account of his progress, informing him that
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial anniversary of the independence of the state of Vermont and the battle of Bennington, August 15 and 16, 18771879 · page 7Read the page →
Read the text
Preliminary Arrangements. 7 To the People of Vermont : Fellow Citizens: — It is doubtless known to you that the Legislature at its last session passed an act incorporating the Bennington Battle Monument Association, and directed it to " take measures to secure at Bennington during the week of the 16th of August, 1877, an appropriate Centennial celebration of the battle of Bennington, and also the recognition of the year 1877 as the one
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.
Timeline
Bennington, 1810 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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The Bennington post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bennington rank for history?
Bennington is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #538 of 758 in New York. 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.
How old are the homes in Bennington?
35% of Bennington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1969.
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), 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.
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