The story
Read it all →How Middlebury came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Middlebury.
The Town of Middlebury was formed in 1812 from the Town of Warsaw.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A+History
History · Middlebury
Middlebury’s post office opened in 1816, and 53% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 84 buildings. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1820.
1816first post office
3on the National Register
53%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Middlebury began
When was Middlebury founded?
1816
The Middlebury post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Vernal (1824), West Middlebury (1838) and Salt Vale (1885), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,782 in 18202020 census: 1,339210 years
How historic is Middlebury?
A+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Middlebury post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Middlebury’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Middlebury is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Middlebury’s overall grade.
Founding era1816, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194053.4% of homes (±5.6) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register3 listings, 87 historic buildings, 651 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 98%
NewerOlder
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 Middlebury’s 651 sits above most of its state (93% of New York towns have fewer) while its 87 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 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 Middlebury’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Middlebury, and 11 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Middlebury are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Wyoming Village Historic District takes in 84 historic buildings.Old housesHalf of Middlebury’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Middlebury had its own post office from 1816 to 1855. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Middlebury
Vernal
Wyoming
West Middlebury
Dale
Salt Vale
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beehive CrossingBelknap CrossingDaleEwells CornerLambs CornerMillers CornerMillers CrossingSaltvaleWest MiddleburyWrights CornerWyoming
Gone or out of use
Middlebury AcademyschoolSchool Number 11schoolSchool Number 15schoolSchool Number 4school
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Middlebury
Carlton HillDaleDale PioneerVernalWest MiddleburyWyoming
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Middlebury’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Middlebury’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the National Register
3 listings protect 87 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
87
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Middlebury Academy
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Greek Revival2
Colonial Revival2
Victorian1
Gothic1
French Provincial1
Arts and Crafts1
Middlebury AcademyGreek Revival
Wyoming Village Historic DistrictGreek Revival
Bryant Fleming HouseColonial Revival
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Middlebury in 1859
Passages that mention Middlebury, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Middlebury, in the country of Addison, Vermont1859Read the page →
Read the text
'•The township of Middlebury licgan to be settled about the year 1783. About 1794, the inhabitants began to build a village on both' sides of the river, at the falls in the north-west part of the township. The number of houses \\\wn we were on the spot was perhaps thirty. Several of them Avcre pretty buildings." " Several' mills had been erected at this place in 1798. A brewery had been' established, several stores had been built, a considerable number of mechanics and several gentlemen in the liberal professions had cho-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Middlebury, in the country of Addison, Vermont1859 · page 16Read the page →
Read the text
Middlcbury River rises in the mountain east of Middlebury, in two branches ; the principal of which rises within the limits of Hancock. These unite in Ripton, and the stream descending the west slope of the mountain, empties into the creek near the south line of Middlebury. At the village of East Middlebury, at tho foot of the mountain, is a series of falls, which furnish several valuable sites for mills. On these are now a forge, two saw mills, a grist mill, tannery, two shops with machinery for boring, sawing
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
Middlebury, 1816 to 1904
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1816Post officeThe Middlebury post office opens
- 1824Post officeThe Vernal post office opens
- 1829Post officeThe Wyoming post office opens
- 1840CensusPopulation peaks at 2,445
- 1855Post officeThe Middlebury post office closes
- 1855Post officeThe Vernal post office closes
- 20th century
- 1904
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 albumOn the map
Middlebury on the map, 1904 to 1951
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Middlebury. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Batavia sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Middlebury.
People over time
Middlebury, census by census
Peaked at 2,445 in 1840; 1,441 people lived here in 2010.
20 censuses, 1820–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Middlebury’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Middlebury
Nobody well known was born in Middlebury itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Middlebury’s history
What year was Middlebury founded?
The Middlebury post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Middlebury rank for history?
Middlebury is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. 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.
What is on the National Register in Middlebury?
Three places: the Middlebury Academy (listed 1973), the Wyoming Village Historic District (1974) and the Bryant Fleming House (2009).
How old are the homes in Middlebury?
53% of Middlebury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.